n 



THE 



ANGELS OF GOD. 



BY 

REV, LEWIS R. DUNN, D.D., 

Author of u The Mission of the Spirit,' 7 11 Holiness to the 
Lord," and Compiler of tl The Garden of Spices ; 
or, Extracts from the Letters of the 
Rev, Samuel Rutherford. 7 ' 



NEW YORK : 



OO PY RIGHT. 

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'ofwash\^^^" 



PHILLIPS & HUNT, 

CINCINNATI : 
W ALDE N & ST OWE. 

l88l. 

OK 



Copyright 1880, by 
PHILLIPS & HUNT, 
New York. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HE Angels of God ! " What/' it may be 



x asked, " do we know about them ? What 
can w r e know?" We often think of them, 
speak and hear of them ; of their ranks and 
orders, their numbers and ministries, their 
wonderful powers and their rapturous songs. 
Nor can we wonder at this ; for when we open 
the pages of the word of God, we behold their 
bright forms, or their outspread wings, or their 
chariots and horses of fire ; and we read of 
their power to protect God's chosen people 
when they are persecuted or endangered ; or 
to inflict vengeance upon their enemies. Our 
first vision of them is at the gate- way of Para- 
dise, when, with the flaming sword, they kept 
" the way of the tree of life ; " and our last, 
in the revelation of the divine word, is when 




4 Introduction. 

we behold them in the apocalyptic vision, in 
uncounted multitudes, uttering their everlast- 
ing songs of joy. And when we think that 
these holy beings, with all their vast powers, 
and superior intelligence, are interested in our 
race, we learn to love them, although we have 
never yet seen the brightness of their form, 
nor the beauty of their face. 

Often we have sung in the sanctuary with 
the assembled multitudes, 

" Angels now are hovering round us, 

Unperceived amid the throng ; 
Wondering at the love that crowned us, 

Glad to join the holy song," 

until we have fancied that we have heard their 
songs and the rustle of their wings. And how 
frequently have we been soothed into quiet 
and conscious security, when we have lain down 
at night surrounded by perils and dangers, 
with the blessed assurance, " The angel of the 
Lord encampeth round about them that fear 
him, and delivereth them ! " 

We have stood by the bedside of the dying 



Introduction. 5 

saint, and have heard him exclaim in holy tri- 
umph, " The angels have come for me ; they 
are around my bed ; they are filling my room : M 
and have then known him to break forth in 
the strain, 

" ' Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! 
O Grave, where is thy victory ? 
O Death, where is thy sting ? ' " 

Thus, the fact of the existence of these ce- 
lestial beings is kept constantly before us, and 
we cannot, if we would, help thinking of them. 
It has, therefore, occurred to the author of the 
following treatise that a volume, embracing 
the best thought of the Church concerning the 
angels, might be written, which would not 
merely interest, but also profit, a large class of 
readers. Very little, indeed, has been written 
upon this subject ; and much that has been 
published is merely traditional, and deserving 
only of being classed among the " old wives' 
fables which the Apostle Paul condemned. 
I Tim. iv, 7. The mass of Jewish literature 
upon this subject is unworthy of reproduction. 



6 Introduction. 

We have merely given a few specimens of this 
literature to show to our readers how little it 
can be relied upon. The writings, also, of the 
schoolmen, and of many of the doctors of the 
Roman Catholic Church, are not only without 
foundation in the word of God, but are mere 
conjectures or vagaries. 

At present, it is true, our knowledge of the 
angels is very incomplete. They are invisible 
to us. However near they may be, still we 
do not see them, nor do any of our senses dis- 
cern them. We behold them only in the light 
of the divine Word — we believe in their exist- 
ence, orders, and ministrations, upon its au- 
thority alone. But that authority is all-suffi- 
cient. " The word of the Lord is truth." His 
"word endureth forever." Whatever is clear- 
ly written therein we can with confidence ac- 
cept, and with all our hearts embrace. And 
no doubt can be had of its teachings on this 
subject. The existence of angels is just as 
clearly stated upon its sacred pages as that of 
any other fact. To doubt, therefore, or deny 



Introduction. 7 

it, would be to unsettle our faith in every oth- 
er truth of the Bible. This volume does not 
treat of myths, or imaginary beings ; but of 
existence as real as any that are made manifest 
to us by our senses. We rejoice, then, in the 
revealed facts of their existence, and of their 
relations to us. 

Passing by the conjectures and vagaries re- 
ferred to in another paragraph, the author has 
purposed to take only the torch of eternal 
truth in his hand, in the examination of the 
various questions related to this subject ; 
and to present nothing except what is re- 
vealed in the word of the Lord, or what 
seemed to him to be in entire accordance 
with its teachings. How far he has suc- 
ceeded in doing this, his readers can best 
judge. He has been the more encouraged to 
prepare this volume for publication because of 
the kindly reception and somewhat extended 
circulation of the volumes which he has already 
sent forth from the press. Allow him to be- 
speak for this little book the same kind con- 



8 Introduction. 

sideration and careful perusal which has been 
given to his former books. 

Dear Christian reader, the time is drawing 
near when, if faithful, we shall be admitted to 
the society of angels and archangels, seraphim 
and cherubim. We shall then " see as we are 
seen, and know as we are known." The dark- 
ness which now rests upon many questions 
concerning these wonderful beings will then be 
removed ; our knowledge of them will be per- 
fect ; and, we trust, will abundantly confirn? 
what we have written here. 

Lewis R. Dunn. 

Elizabeth, N. J., 1880. 



LIST OF AUTHORS CONSULTED AND QUOTED IN 
THE PREPARATION OF THIS BOOK. 



Alford's Greek Testament 

Allen's Modern Judaism. 

Angelology. By George Clayton, Jun. 

Angels of God. By Rev. T. Timpson. 

Bickersteth's Yesterday, To-day, and Forever. 

Clarke's, Adam, Commentary. 

Conybeare and Howson. 

Daemons and Guardian Angels. By Rev. Dr. Berg. 

Dwight's Theology. 

Edwards' Works. 

Gill's Works. 

Hall, Bishop. 

Hall's, Robert, Sermons. 

Harman's Introduction to the Holy Scriptures. 
Henry's Commentary. 
Horsley, Bishop. 
Kitto's Works. 

M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia. 

Melvill's Sermons. 

Meyer's Commentary. 

Miller's, Hugh, Testimony of the Rocks. 

Milton's Paradise Lost. 



10 



List of Authors. 



Motley's Dutch Republic. 

Rawson's Nature and Ministry of Angels. 

Scott's, Sir Walter, Demonology. 

Systematic Theology. By Charles Hodge, D.D. 

Trench on Miracles, 

Watson's Institutes and Commentary. 

Wesley's Sermons. 

Whately's Good and Evil Angels. 

Whedon's Commentary. 

Withrow's Catacombs of Rome, 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. The Angels — Their Origin and their 



Confirmation 13 

II. The Nature and Forms of Angels 27 

III. The Power of Angels 48 

IV. Angels — Their Names and Orders 55 

V. The Number of Angels 71 

VI. Are they not all Ministering Spirits?... 85 

VII. The Angel of the Covenant 122 

VIII. The Angels and Christ 131 

IX. The Fallen Angels. 163 

X. Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 205 

XI. The Worship of Angels 232 

XII. The Existence of Angels Evidence of a 

Future State 238 

XIII. Angels and Dying Saints 251 

XIV. Angels at the Resurrection and the 

Judgment 271 



XV. The Employment of Angels in Heaven . . 281 



" God, who is Spirit, 
Bade spirits exist, and they existed. Forms 
Of light, in infinite varieties, . . . 
Awoke in legions armed, or one by one 
Successively appeared. Succession there, 
In numbers passing thy arithmetic, 
Might be more rapid than my words, and yet 
Exhaust the flight of ages. There is space 
For ages in the boundless past. But each 
Came from the hand of God distinct, the fruit 
Of his eternal counsels, the design 
Of his omniscient love, his workmanship ; 
Each seraph, no angelic parentage 
Betwixt him and the Great Artificer, 
Born of the Spirit, and by the Word create." 

— BlCKERSTETH '. 

Yesterday, To-day, ajid Forever, p. 121. 



THE ANGELS OF GOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ANGELS — THEIR ORIGIN AND THEIR 
CONFIRMATION. 

T S there such an order of beings as the an- 
gels ? Have we any warrant to believe 
that they have a personal existence ? that they 
are intelligent ? and that they are vastly supe- 
rior in their powers to the human race ? Or, 
is the faith of the Church in their existence, 
during the ages past, unfounded, and are they, 
after all, only a myth, like the genii, dii, and 
fairies of classic story, or merely a childish 
dream? Very much, as to our comfort, our 
hope, our peace, and our real happiness, de- 
pends upon the way in which these inquiries 
are answered. 

One thing is very certain. That is, that the 
word of God, from its earliest to its latest rev- 
elations concerning angels, speaks of them as 
persons, as intelligent beings ; as inhabitants of 



T4 The Angels of God. 

the heavenly world, although often appearing 
among men ; as beings possessed of wondrous 
powers, as existing in almost countless num- 
bers, as having various orders and names, and 
as being entirely and constantly employed by 
God in the accomplishment of his purposes in 
the world. That word alone gives us an au- 
thoritative statement of their existence and of 
the facts referred to. If we, like too many 
have done among the Jews, the Schoolmen, 
and others, go out into the regions of dreamy 
speculation, fancy, or conceit, we shall soon 
lose ourselves amid the wildest vagaries, and 
disgust ourselves and all intelligent persons 
with the fruits of our folly. But we cannot go 
far astray while we hold the lamp of eternal 
truth in our hands as we proceed in our inves- 
tigations. To this " sure word of prophecy " 
we shall endeavor " to take heed ; " and in all 
the future pages of this book shall present 
nothing but what we honestly believe is taught 
therein, or is in harmony therewith. 

It may not be amiss, right here, to consider 
that, independent of what is taught us in the 
book of God, it is probable that there are in- 
telligent beings higher in their order, their in- 



The Angels — Their Origin, 15 

telligence, and their powers, than man. " We 
see, in all departments of nature, a regular 
gradation from the lower to the higher forms 
of life ; from the almost invisible vegetable 
fungus in plants to the cedar of Lebanon ; 
from the minutest animalcule to the gigantic 
mammoth. In man we meet with the first, 
and to all appearance the lowest, of rational 
creatures. That he should be the only creat- 
ure of his order is, a priori, as improbable as 
that insects should be the only class of irra- 
tional animals. There is every reason to be- 
lieve that the scale of being; among- rational 
creatures is as extensive as that in the ani- 
mal world. If the distance between God and 
man be infinite, all analogy would prove that 
the orders of rational creatures between us and 
God must be inconceivably numerous." * The 
fact of their existence being clearly revealed, 
and that fact being in entire harmony with the 
highest probabilities, the questions arise, From 
whence did this order of intelligences spring ? 
When were they created ? And by whom ? 
Various answers have been given to these 
questions. Many of the Jewish writers have 

* Hodge : " Systematic Theology," vol. i, p. 637. 



1 6 The Angels of God. 

contended that they were created with all the 
other parts of the visible universe. Rabbi 
Jochanan says : " The angels were created on 
the second day ; this is what is written : 'Who 
layeth the beams of his chambers in the wa- 
ters ; who maketh the clouds his chariot ; who 
walketh upon the wings of the wind ; who mak- 
eth his angels spirits.' " Psa. civ, 3, 4. Rabbi 
Chanina says : u The angels were created on 
the fifth day ; this is what is found written : 
1 And fowl that may fly above the earth ; . . . and 
' with twain he did fly/ H Gen. i, 20 ; Isa. vi, 2. 
On the other hand, Rabbi Bechai, in endeav- 
oring to harmonize these views, says : M There 
are some angels who continue forever, namely, 
those who were created on the second day ; 
but others perish, according to the explanation 
of our rabbies of blessed memory, who say, 
1 That the holy and blessed God created daily 
a multitude of angels, who sing an anthem to 
his praise and glory, and then perish ; and they 
are those who were created on the fifth day.' " 
This daily creation and daily perishing of 
angels is the doctrine taught in the Jewish 
Talmud. 

Many Christian expositors have expressed 



The Angels — Their Origin, 17 

the opinion that they are included in the Mo- 
saic account of the creation, among whom are 
Dr. Gill, Dr. Lightfoot, and others equally dis- 
tinguished. We must concede, at the very 
outset, that the word of God does not give us 
any definite information regarding the period 
when they were created. The general concen- 
sus, however, of Christian teaching upon this 
question is, that they were created a long time 
anterior to the creation of the material and 
visible universe, and that, when that great 
work was accomplished, they not only beheld 
the laying of its foundation-stone, but were 
there also uttering their songs of joy. 

If, however, we cannot know certainly when 
they were created, we have the most clear and 
definite knowledge as to who created them, 
and to w T hom they owe allegiance. John de- 
clares that "All things were made by him,"— 
that is, Christ — " and without him was not any 
thing made that was made." If, therefore, an- 
gels are created beings, our only conclusion 
must be that he made them. In Col. i, 15-17, 
we read of Christ, " Who is the image of the 
invisible God, the first-born of every creature ; 

for by him were all things created that are in 
2 



1 8 The Angels of God. 

heaven, h> role ovparolc, in the heavens, and that 
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they 
be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
powers ; all things were created by him, and 
for him : and he is before all things, and by 
him all things consist." The Apostle Peter, 
speaking of Christ, says : " Who is gone into 
heaven, and is on the right hand of God ; an- 
gels and authorities and powers being made 
subject unto him." I Pet. iii, 22. Of course, 
as he is their Creator they are under his au- 
thority and control. So St. Paul declares that 
Christ is set at the right hand of God in the 
heavenly places, " far above all principality, 
and power, and might, and dominion, and every 
name that is named, not only in this world, 
but also in that which is to come." Eph. i, 21. 
In Philippians ii, 9-1 1, it is said : " Wherefore 
God also hath highly exalted him, and given 
him a name which is above every name : that 
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
of tilings in heaven, and things in earth, and 
things under the earth." It is very true that 
Christ was "for a little while made lower than 
the angels." But it was for a purpose. It 
was ik for the suffering of death : that he by 



The Angels — Their Origin. 19 

the grace of God should taste death for every 
man," which he could not have done had he 
not assumed our nature. 

H aving been created by Christ, all these ranks 
and orders of intelligences worship him as their 
Creator and Lord. " When he bringeth in the 
first-begotten into the world he saith, And let 
all the angels of God worship him." Heb. i, 6. 
In the vision which Isaiah had in the year 
King Uzziah died, he saw the six-winged ser- 
aphim, as they covered their faces and feet, 
and flew through the vast expanse, worship 
him. That this is so, is evident from the lan- 
guage of the Apostle John, when, in referring 
to this vision, he says, " These things spake 
Isaiah when he saw his [Christ's] glory and 
spake of him." xii, 41. In the apocalyptic 
vision they also appear before us as worshiping 
him in the highest heavens. Rev. v, 11-14. 
Once only have human ears heard the raptur- 
ous song»s of the angels. And let it never be 
forgotten that these songs were sung in praise 
of God at the advent of the blessed Christ. 
The privilege of hearing these angel chimes 
was accorded to the humble shepherds on the 
plains of Bethlehem, as they fed their flocks 



20 The Angels of God. 

by night. Never was the advent of any hu- 
man being heralded by such demonstrations 
of joy. Cannon have thundered from tower 
and castle, from fortress and vessels of war, and 
bells have rung out their merry chimes and 
peals, while multitudes have shouted when a 
prince has been born ; but now the countless 
multitudes of the heavenly host — outnumber- 
ing all the armies and navies of the world, and 
all the subjects of any human government — 
uttered their songs of praise, until the heaven 
of heavens rang again with joy. The echoes 
of those angel-chimes still linger upon earth's 
mountains and valleys, and may yet be heard 
above the din and noise, the bustle and con- 
fusion of the world, by eager, listening ears. 
There can be no doubt, then, that the angels 
worship and adore Christ. If so, then he is 
their Creator and Lord, and so divine — very 
and eternal God ; or else they, in rendering 
this worship, are idolaters. A conclusion, this, 
too monstrous to be believed. 

We have now seen the angels present at the 
creation, and when the morning stars sang to- 
gether they, " the sons of God," shouted aloud 
for joy. We have also seen them at the ad- 



The Angels — Their Origin. 21 

vent of their Lord and our Saviour, uttering 
songs of rapturous delight. There was one 
other grand occasion — when God came down 
on Mount Sinai to give his law — when they 
were present in large numbers, and, probably, 
acted as mediators in the dispensation of that 
law. The royal psalmist says, " The chariots 
of God are twenty thousand, even thousands 
of angels : the Lord is among them, as in Si- 
nai, in the holy place." Psa. Ixviii, 17. Stephen, 
the angel-faced, standing in view of the glories 
of the heavenly world, in his terrible invective 
against the Jewish people, says, " Who have 
received the law by the disposition of angels, 
and have not kept it." Acts vii, 53. So St. 
Paul declares, in his Epistle to the Galatians, 
(iii, 19,) " And it — the law — was ordained by 
angels in the hand of a mediator." They did 
not, of course, give the law ; but they were 
God's " ministers and instrumental enactors." 
So in the Epistle to the Hebrews we read, 
" For if the word — [that is, the law] — spoken 
by angels was steadfast." Thus in the three 
grandest events known to man — the creation 
of the world, the giving of the law, and the 
advent of Christ for the redemption of man 



22 The Angels of God. 

- — angels have appeared, singing their songs, 
ministering the law of their Lord, and pro- 
claiming the wondrous story of his birth. 

The fall of angels will be considered in an- 
other place. But it is important that we 
notice here the fact that, while many — how 
many no one can tell — broke their allegiance 
and fell from their " first estate," countless 
numbers maintained their loyalty to their 
Creator, and having, probably, passed through 
a period of probation, for a longer or shorter 
period, were confirmed in their character 
and allegiance, and fixed in their everlasting 
abodes of purity and bliss. These are " the 
elect angels" of whom the apostle speaks in 
his charge to Timothy. Of this the golden- 
mouthed Chrysostom speaks, when he says, 
" Neither may we doubt that the angels them- 
selves need the grace of Christ, the Redeemer, 
that is to say, the grace of confirmation and 
exaltation, though not the grace of reconcilia- 
tion. For, as they are creatures, they cannot, 
of their own nature, be beyond danger of fall- 
ing. . . . Hence, therefore, it is evident, that 
the grace of Christ, the Mediator, is necessary 
for the happiness even of angels; not that by 



The Angels — Their Confirmation. 23 

it they should be justified and absolved from 
sin, but that by it they may be confirmed in 
the divine love." 

With this view all the most eminent divines 
in the Church are in hearty accord. The elo- 
quent Melvill in one of his sermons, says, 
" If the angels are now secured against falling 
away, what has made them secure ? What has 
thrown around them such a rampart against 
the incursions of evil that there is a certain- 
ty of their continuing the obedient and the 
happy? We know of no satisfactory answer 
to these questions, but that which supposes 
the whole universe interested in the suretyship 
of Jesus and affected by his mediation. Of 
course, we do not mean that where no sin had 
been committed there could be need of the 
shedding of blood. But those who required 
not expiation, required the being confirmed 
and established ; they required to have their 
happiness made permanent through some con- 
nection of its natural mutability. When, there- 
fore, the Son of God undertook to link the 
created with the Uncreated, the finite with the 
Infinite, in his own divine person, he probably 
did that which gave stability to unfallen orders, 



24 



The Angels of God. 



as well as wrought the recovery of a fallen. 
He raised the disobedient and maintained the 
obedient ; and by the same act rendered it 
impossible that those then pure beings should 
be polluted, and possible that men, though 
polluted, might be cleansed. And now, if you 
tell me of glorious worlds, where the inhabit- 
ants have no sins of which to repent, I can- 
not, on that account, conclude that they can- 
not join with me in gratitude to a Mediator. 
While I thank and bless him for my restora- 
tion, they may thank and bless him for their 
preservation. His the arm which has raised 
me from ruin ; his may be the arm which has 
retained them in glory. And equally may the 
Son be occupied with every home of intelli- 
gent being, ministering throughout the broad 
sweep of the spiritual creation, to the render- 
ing those in obedience who are by nature in 
constant danger of apostasy. Hence, just as 
we refer it to the immediate agency of God, 
that stars and planets retain their places, and 
perform their revolutions, so we should refer it 
to the immediate agency of Christ, that the 
successive ranks of the heavenly hosts pre- 



The Angels— Their Confirmation. 25 

serve their glory, and walk their brilliant cir- 
cuits. ? 

This certainly gives a broader sweep to our 
views of Christ's Mediatorial work, that it not 
only comprehends the race of fallen beings, but 
that it reaches, also, those who are unfallen, 
and keeps them secure in their allegiance to the 
throne of the Most High. No wonder, then, 
that the songs of angels blend so harmoniously 
with those of the redeemed and glorified sons 
of men. It may be that when our eyes are 
opened to more fully comprehend the myster- 
ies of redemption, we shall see that the cross 
of Christ is not only upreared in the center of 
the physical world, but also in the center of 
the physical universe ; and that to it the eye 
of every intelligent being is turned — " in the 
heavens " as well as in the earth. 

* Melvill's Sermons, p. 300. 



11 In the apocryphal Book of Maccabees, it is related that 
Heliodorus resolved to invade the temple of Jehovah, and 
plunder its treasury. On proceeding to execute his impious 
purpose ' there appeared to him a horse with a terrible rider 
upon him, and adorned with a very fair covering, and he ran 
fiercely and smote at Heliodorus with his fore-feet ; and it 
seemed that he that sat upon the horse had complete harness 
of gold. Moreover, two other young men appeared before 
him, notable in strength, excelle7it in beauty, and comely in 
apparel, who stood by him on either side.' " 

4 1 But who is he, in panoply of gold, 

Throned on that burning charger ? bright his form, 
Yet in its brightness awful to behold, 

And girt with all the terrors of the storm ! 
Lightning is on his helmet's crest, and fear 
Shrinks from the splendor of his brow severe. 

"And by his side two radiant warriors stand, 
All armed and kingly in commanding grace — 

O, more than kingly ! godlike ! sternly grand ! 
Their port indignant, and each dazzling face 

Beams with the beauty to immortals given, 

Magnificent in all the wrath of heaven." 



Nature and Forms of Angels. 27 



CHAPTER II. 



THE NATURE AND FORMS OF ANGELS. 
^HERE is evidently a broad distinction 



made in the word of God between the 
nature of angels and the nature of men. In 
the Epistle to the Hebrews we read, (ch. ii, 16,) 
" For verily he took not on him the nature of 
angels ; " — in the sense of helping and succoring 
them ; — " but he took on him the seed of Abra- 
ham. " The argument here is this, that Christ 
took on him the nature of those whom he 
would redeem — of those who needed help, suc- 
cor, and redemption. The elect angels did not 
need redemption, as they are unsinning and un- 
fallen ; but the seed of Abraham — of humanity 
— needed it, for they are sinful and fallen. 
What, then, is the nature of the angels ? 

They are spiritual beings. " He maketh his 
angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." 
We have no sympathy with the rationalistic 
interpretation of this beautiful verse — " Who 
maketh the winds his angels, and flaming fire 
his ministers." This maybe all true in a mod- 




28 The A ngels of God. 

ified sense ; but it is too much of a toning 
down of God's word to be acceptable to those 
who believe in a divine revelation. Again 
we read, " Are they not all ministering spir- 
its ? " By this we understand that they are 
of a spiritual nature, not compounded of parts, 
as our bodies are ; and yet not so simple and 
pure spirit as God is, who is absolutely and 
eternally " a Spirit." It is difficult, and, in- 
deed, impossible, for us to understand what is 
meant by a spiritual being. All our ideas of 
existences are associated with more or less of 
materialism. Even those bodies which for- 
merly were termed imponderable — as light, 
electricity, etc. — are found to be sufficiently 
material and tangible to be caught, unbraided, 
analyzed, yoked to the car of human progress, 
and made to minister to the wants, conven- 
iences, and necessities of mankind. And man, 
the highest form of being with which we are 
brought into direct contact, is very material in 
all that we see or know of him. Although we 
must recognize in him faculties which are far 
above the most refined materialism of which 
we l<now any thing — faculties which ally him to 
the angels and to God, and which give the an- 



Nature and Forms of Angels. 29 

gels and the Lord of the angels the deepest in- 
terest in him — still this is the human spirit act- 
ing through visible and tangible forms, and 
displayed through material instruments. And 
so. it must be admitted,, when the angels have 
appeared among men,, that it has always been 
in a human form,, as seen by mortal eyes ; and 
in bright, celestial forms, when seen in the 
rapt vision of the prophet or the apostle. In- 
deed, material and mortal eyes cannot look 
upon pure spiritual beings. 

The question arises here. Do the angels ap- 
pear in heaven as they have appeared when 
seen by men and women on the earth, or as 
they have appeared when seen in vision ? We 
do not believe that this question can be satis- 
factorily answered. The opinions held by the 
great names of the Church, and by its great 
councils, have varied widely, and they will, 
probably, continue to do so as long as the dim 
veil of mortality hangs between us and that 
heavenly world. kk It was decided by the Coun- 
cil held at Nice, A. D. 7S4, that angels had 
bodies composed of ether, or light ; an opin- 
ion which they thought was favored by Matt, 
xxviii, 5 : Luke ii. 9. and other pas-ages in 



30 The Ayigcls of God. 

which their form and glory are spoken of. The 
Council of Lateran, in A. D. 1215, decided that 
they were incorporeal, and this has been the 
common opinion in the Church. As such, 
therefore, they are invisible, incorruptible, and 
immortal." * 

This opinion, however, is very far from be- 
ing universal : many great expositors holding 
that they have some material vehicle with 
which they are united, highly refined in its na- 
ture, and at a great remove from the flesh and 
blood which compose our bodily frames. For 
our own part, we cannot possibly conceive that 
any created being in the universe can exist as 
a pure spirit. We are strongly of the opinion 
that all the angels, and all redeemed spirits, up 
to the period of the resurrection, have some 
kind of investiture, c< enswathement," as Jo- 
seph Cook, in his lectures, denominates it, in 
which it appears before God. Light, ethereal 
as eliminated ether, it may be, but still an or- 
ganic vehicle suitable to their nature and 
employments. It would be dogmatic and un- 
philosophical to say that it is impossible for the 
angels to exist and act as pure spirits ; but 

* Hedge : "Systematic Theology," vol. i, p. 63S. 



Nature and Forms of A ngels. 3 1 

our limited capacities cannot grasp the thought 
or form the idea of such existences. When 
we speak of them, therefore, as spiritual beings, 
it is in the same sense in which the apostle 
speaks of the spiritual body — under the domi- 
nancy of the glorified spirit — a body exempted 
from the grosser forms of earthly bodies which 
men now possess. 

There are two things especially which lead 
us to this view. First : Our Saviour says that 
at the resurrection, when these corruptible, 
mortal, weak bodies shall be made incorrupt- 
ible, powerful, immortal, and spiritual, then we 
shall be " as [or like] the angels of God in 
heaven!' Secondly : Whenever they have ap- 
peared on earth it has been in some form in 
which they could be seen, conversed with, 
heard, and touched. We now come to regard 
the manner of their appearances among men, 
or how they have looked as seen by mortal eyes. 
To Adam and his more immediate descend- 
ants the cherubim appeared in forms to us un- 
known, with " a flaming sword which turned 
every way," guarding the tree of life. To 
Abraham the angels appeared as men, having 
feet which were washed, bodies which stood, 



32 The Angels of God, 

sat, and ate, one of the three being recognized 
and worshiped as the Angel of the Covenant, 
Jehovah of Hosts. These men were made 
known to Lot as angels, although they ap- 
peared as men, having human wants of shel- 
ter, lodging, and food. Not only so. They 
had hands : for while Lot lingered they laid 
hold upon his hands, and upon the hands of 
his wife, and upon the hands of his two daugh- 
ters." The angel which appeared in the way 
of Balaam was recognized by the ass before he 
was seen by the false prophet. But, when Ba- 
laam saw him, " he stood in the way with a 
drawn sword in his hand," having a voice, and 
addressing him in words which he distinctly 
understood. It is not said in what form the 
angel appeared to Gideon. But from the nar- 
rative we conclude that he must have had a 
human form ; for he sat under the oak at Oph- 
rah and talked with Gideon familiarly, so much 
so, indeed, that it was some time before the 
chosen leader knew that he was an angel. To 
the wife of Manoah the angel appeared, speak- 
ing in words which she understood ; but " his 
countenance was like an angel of God, very 
terrible." And yet his whole appearance must 



Nature and Forms of A ngels. 3 3 

nave been that of a man : for when she ran to 
tell her husband of his second appearing, she 
said, " Behold, the man hath appeared unto me 
that came unto me the other day." Notwith- 
standing this, both of them recognized him as 
an angel of God, who departed from them in a 
flame of fire. It was thus indicated to them 
that while he had the form of a man he had 
powers of transformation unaffected by the 
laws of gravitation, which enabled him to as- 
cend toward heaven, and to become invisible 
to them. We have no definite information of 
the form of the angel who appeared to David. 
All we learn of him is, that he stood by the 
threshing-floor of Araunah, the Jebusite ; and 
afterward that David saw him with a drawn 
sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusa- 
lem, standing between the earth and heaven. 
Of course, he must have appeared in some 
form, becanse he stood by the floor of Araunah, 
and had a drawn sword in his hand. And yet, 
so light, self-supporting, and ethereal was he, 
that he stood upon the elastic air between the 
earth and heaven. 

It was not until the time of the prophet 

Isaiah, that the celestial beings are repre- 

3 



34 The Afigels of God. 

sented as having wings, with which they " fly 
swiftly," and with which they cover their faces 
and feet as they worship in the heavenly 
courts. We never now think of an angel with- 
out wings. In all representations of them by 
painters and sculptors they are winged ; and it 
is in this form that poets most frequently speak 
of them. One thing, however, has always 
seemed strange to us ; it is this : that while in 
the word of God they always appear before 
us as men, and are spoken of in the masculine 
gender, all the representations referred to, in 
marble, on canvass, or in poetical conception, 
are in the female form. We know of hardly 
any great artists who have ever represented 
them otherwise. Perhaps it is because they 
have never seen any thing in man which has 
borne any resemblance to their conceptions of 
an angel's form or grace ; while now and then 
a woman's form and features, her face smiling 
in beauty, and her character adorned with 
every grace, has come nearer to the ideal of 
an angel than any thing else seen in this world, 
excepting it be the innocence, loveliness, and 
beauty of the form and face of childhood. 
No mention is made of the form or appear- 



Nature and Forms of Angels, 35 

ance of Gabriel when he appeared to Zacharias, 
or in the annunciation to Mary. Nor do we 
learn any thing of how the angels looked who 
appeared to the shepherds on the plains of 
Bethlehem, or of the multitude of the heavenly 
host who in mid-heaven uttered their songs of 
joy. But the women who saw the angels at 
the tomb of our Lord after his resurrection 
give us some clear ideas of their appearance at 
that time. In Matthew Ave read of the angel 
who descended from heaven and rolled back 
the stone from the door of the sepulcher, that 
"his countenance was like lightning, and his 
raiment white as snow : and for fear of him the 
keepers did shake, and became as dead men." 
Mark relates that the women saw " a young 
man sitting on the right side of the sepulcher, 
clothed in a long white garment ; and they 
were affrighted." Luke says that " two men 
stood by them in shining garments." And 
John records that Mary saw "two angels in 
white, sitting, the one at the head and the other 
at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain." 
There need be no labored effort to harmonize 
these various statements. They are all true. 
There was more than one angel honored in par- 



2,6 The Angels of God, 

ticipating in this wonderful scene. Glimpses 
were only enjoyed by some of the women — • 
sometimes of one, then of two : sometimes 
in one form and place, and sometimes in an- 
other. But as multitudes of angels partici- 
pated in the scenes of the nativity, and, sub- 
sequently, at the ascension, so now, doubtless, 
multitudes were around the vacated tomb. 
And, had the eyes of the women been "opened," 
they would, very probably, have seen the veiy 
air all gleaming with their white wings and 
shining garments. At the ascension of our 
Lord into heaven, as his form disappeared 
from the wondering and wildering gaze of the 
disciples, " two men stood by them in white 
apparel," and gave comfort to their sorrowing 
hearts by the words which they spoke. Here 
they appear and speak as men, in the lan- 
guage of men ; although, no doubt, they were 
only a part of the rear guard of the cherubic 
legions who were escorting their Lord to his 
eternal throne in the heavens ; and when they 
had delivered their message to the disciples, 
rejoined the main body as they appeared be- 
fore the gates of pearl. 

In the book of Revelation, still more than 



Nature and Forms of Angels. 37 

in that of Ezekiel, the angels are every-where 
brought to our view — acting in various capaci- 
ties, intensely interested in participating in 
the affairs of nations and in providential dis- 
pensations, fulfilling the high behests of their 
Lord, and hymning his praises before the ever- 
lasting throne. But we gain very little infor- 
mation as to the form in which they appeared 
before the eye of the revelator. For many 
things connected with their appearance we 
must wait patiently until the dim veil which 
separates us from that glory-land is removed, 
and there are revealed to us, in the clear light 
of eternity, their beautiful forms and faces, the 
luster of their white robes, and the swiftness 
of their flight. But few persons have ever 
thought of the angels who have not desired to 
see them, and to know more than we can know 
now of their forms and appearances ; but our 
heavenly Father has, no doubt wisely, pre- 
vented this. Perhaps our mortal eyes are too 
dim to gaze upon their glory. Perhaps the 
sight of their unsullied purity would discour- 
age us. Or it may be that, as the shepherds 
and the women were "affrighted" when they 
saw the angels, and Daniel was so affected by 



38 The Angels of God. 

the appearance of one of them that his come- 
liness was turned in him into corruption, and 
he retained no strength, while his attendants, 
who saw not the vision, were so conscious of 
an invisible presence that a great quaking fell 
on them, and they fled to hide themselves, — ■ 
so we could not bear the sight of them in our 
present weakness, and our frame is too fee- 
ble to bear the presence of such purity and 
power. The true Christian can afford to wait 
until the darkness, the ignorance, and the frail- 
ty of the present state have passed away; w T hen 
he knows that he shall not only see them, but 
will be companioned with them forever. Hav- 
ing thus presented our reasons for the position 
assumed, that while angels are spiritual beings 
they have yet some form in which they appear, 
and which they may have the power of chang- 
ing according to the work or the mission 
which they may be appointed to accomplish, 
we now proceed to consider their nature. 

They are pure and holy beings. In several 
places our Lord himself calls them " the holy 
angels." Every reference to them in the word 
of God gives us to understand that no breath 
of pollution, of evil, or of sin, has ever marred 



Nature and Forms of Angels. 39 

them, or stained the brightness of their charac- 
ter. Their purity is, indeed, unsullied, their 
holiness undimmed by any frailty or defect, 
such as mars even the saintliest beings on the 
earth. Their wills are in perfect harmony and 
eternal accord with the w T ill of God. They do 
his will in heaven. They " do his command- 
ments, hearkening unto the voice of his word." 
And in their perfect holiness there is the blend- 
ing of perfect humility. They veil their faces 
with their wings as they worship before the 
throne. And not only so : they are ready and 
willing to do the humblest services for the 
heirs of salvation. No dwelling of pov- 
erty is so obscure, no home so wretched and 
distressed, but they are ready to dwell there 
with God's saints, and to minister to his chil- 
dren. No one who, in the light of divine reve- 
lation, beholds the angels carrying Lazarus to 
Abraham's bosom, can ever doubt this. How 
ashamed, then, ought we to be of our vanity 
and pride, and of our ofttimes want of rever- 
ence when w^e appear before God ! 

They are beings of great wisdom and under- 
standing. This is clearly indicated to us in the 
visions of Ezekiel and St. John, when they are 



40 The A ngels of God. 

represented as being "full of eyes before and 
behind." Does not this signify that they know 
what is past and what is in the future ? Hence 
they foretell future events to the prophets and 
apostles. They know the affairs of empires, 
kingdoms, and states. Dr. Dwight says : " An- 
gels are endowed with the greatest intellectual 
faculties, and are, of course, possessed of 
knowledge superior to that of any other cre- 
ated beings. They are declared to be full of 
eyes within ; that is, to have been all sense, all 
intellect, all consciousness, beholding at once 
all things within the reach of their under- 
standing, and discerning them with a clear- 
ness of perception which is the most perfect 
created semblance of the intuitive and bound- 
less views of the Omniscient Mind." 

So Mr. Wesley, speaking of their wisdom, 
says : " What an inconceivable degree of wis- 
dom must they have acquired by the use of 
their faculties, over and above that with which 
they were originally endued, in the course of 
more than six thousand years ! How im- 
mensely must their wisdom have increased, not 
only by surveying the hearts and ways of men 
in their successive generations, but by observ- 



Nature and Forms of 'Angels. 41 

ing the works of God — his works of creation, 
providence, and grace ; and, above all, by con- 
tinually beholding the face of their Father 
which is in heaven? " Furthermore he says : 
" Who can comprehend what is the under* 
standing of an angel ? Undoubtedly they see, 
at one glance, whatever truth is presented to 
them, and that with all the certainty and clear- 
ness that we poor mortals see the most self- 
evident axiom. Who, then, can conceive the 
extent of their knowledge ? Not only of the 
nature, attributes, and works of God, whether 
of creation or providence, but of the circum- 
stances, actions, words, tempers, and thoughts 
of men." Great, however, as their understand- 
ing and wisdom are, they are limited. Our 
Saviour says, that they do not know the day 
nor the hour when the scenes connected with 
the last judgment will burst upon the world. 
And they are represented as desirous of know- 
ing more fully the wonders of redemption — 
" Which things the angels desire to look 
into :" 

" The first-born sons of light 
Desire in vain its depths to see ; 
They cannot reach the mystery, 

The length, the breadth, the height," 



42 The Angels of God. 

They are beings of great activity. The swift- 
ness of their flight is evidenced in Dan. ix, 21. 
While the prime minister and prophet was yet 
praying, Gabriel, " being caused to fly swiftly," 
brought the answer. He said to Daniel, " At 
the beginning of thy supplications the com- 
mandment came forth, and I am come to show 
thee." So in the vision of Isaiah, while he 
was still overwhelmed with a sense of his vile- 
ness and of the uncleanness of his lips, the ser- 
aphim flew unto him, having the living coal of 
purging and purification, and laid it upon his 
lips. How swiftly they flew to the rescue of 
Elisha ! In one night all the mountain round 
about Dothan was covered with their chariots 
and horses of fire. Jesus said to Peter, who, 
in his zeal for his Master, had cut off the ear 
of the servant of the high-priest, " Thinkest 
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and 
he shall presently give me more than twelve 
legions of angels ? " In Ezek. i, 14, we read, 
" And the living creatures ran and returned as 
the appearance of a flash of lightning." And 
St. John says, And the four living creatures 
" had each of them six wings about him ; and 
they were full of eyes within ; . . . and they rest 



Nature and Forms of A ngels. 43 

not day and night.'" No lightning flash or 
electric spark is so quick in its motion, as 
the wonderful movements of these celestial 
beings. 

They art possessed of great beauty and glory. 
The vision which Daniel had on the banks of 
the river Hiddekel gives us some idea of their 
beauty and glory. The wonderful being who 
there appeared to him, the description of whom 
resembles very closely that which John gives 
of the glorified Redeemer, is thus presented 
before us : " Then I lifted up mine eyes, and 
looked, and behold a certain man clothed in 
linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold 
of Uphaz : his body also was like the beryl, 
and his face as the appearance of lightning, 
and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms 
and his feet like in color to polished brass, 
and the voice of his words like the voice 
of a multitude." Dan. x, 5, 6. The revelator, 
also, saw a " mighty angel come down from 
heaven, clothed with a cloud ; and a rainbow 
was upon his head, and his face was as it were 
the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." Rev. 
x, 1. Thus they are like their Lord, and shine 
in his beauty and glory. When the angel ap- 



44 



The Angels of God. 



peared to the shepherds, " the glory of the 
Lord," reflected from his face and form, " shone 
round about them." So when the angel came 
down to roll away the stone from the door of 
Christ's sepulcher, " his countenance was like 
lightning, and his raiment white as snow." 
Angels are frequently represented as wearing 
" shining garments." 

The highest skill of the painter and the 
sculptor has been employed in their efforts to 
transfer to the canvass and the marble their 
own ideal of the beauty and glory of the an- 
gels. But the genius of Raphael, or of Michael 
Angelo, has never been equal to the task, beau- 
tiful and sublime as are the creations of their 
genius, on which the world has gazed with ad- 
miration for the ages past. No one ever yet 
saw any representation of them which has 
measured up to his own ideal of their beauty. 
The sweet, lovely innocence of the babe ; the 
bright, shining countenance illuminated by 
the smile of the Lord ; the uplifted face of 
Stephen, reflecting his glory, are all suggestive 
to us, and typical of this beauty, but they only 
furnish us with dim conceptions of that glory 
and beauty which we hope to behold when 



Nature and Forms of Angels. 45 

our eyes are made capable of beholding them. 
But any representations of them which indi- 
cate beauty, innocence, and gentleness merely, 
must, necessarily, be defective. For they not 
only have great beauty, but, also, great power. 
The evidences of this are so numerous that 
we shall devote a separate chapter to its con- 
sideration. 

They are not only deathless, but also ever 
young. Those angels which appeared to the 
women at the resurrection, are described by 
them as "young men" We do not know how 
old they were. But they were then, doubt- 
less, at least four thousand years old, and yet 
there was no trace of age upon their face and 
brow. No sickness, toil, care, pain, weak- 
ness, or weariness is ever experienced by 
them ; and their bodies will never know age or 
decay. 

The angels which appeared to Mary at the 
sepulcher of Jesus were then, at the least, four 
thousand years old. Still they appeared as 
young men ; and in all that long succession of 
ages had undergone no decay. " Their youth, 
a bright and beautiful blossom, still shone with 
all its luster and fragrance ; and directly indi- 



46 The Angels of God. 

cated that it was superior both to accident 
and time ; and would, after many such flights 
of years, survive in all its vigor ; being destined 
as well as fitted for immortality. Even this is 
probably an imperfect representation of this 
glorious subject. " * 

Then it is said of them that they are the 
"living ones" — immortal natures which can 
never die. When the Sadducees, who denied 
the existence of either angel or spirit, pre- 
sented what they thought was an unanswera- 
ble objection to the doctrine of the future 
state, Christ answered them, " Ye do err, not 
knowing the Scriptures, nor the po\ver of God." 
Matt, xxii, 29. " They which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrec- 
tion from the dead, neither marry nor are given 
in marriage." Luke xx, 35. Neither can they 
die any more: " for they are equal unto the 
angels." The question of their deathlessness 
is thus settled. " The possession of ever-vig- 
orous, ever-blooming youth, destined to sur- 
vive and triumph over time and labor, must 
carry with it a sense of personal importance 
which, tempered and refined by perfect hu- 

* Dwiglit, vol. i, p. 296. 



Nature and Forms of A ngels. 47 

mility, cannot but be elevated in a manner to 
which there is no parallel." 

" Angels, then, present us with an object of 
contemplation, resplendent with inherent light, 
beauty, and greatness, with nothing to tarnish, 
nothing to impair, its luster ; nothing to alloy 
the pleasure of the beholder ; a vivid land- 
scape, formed of all the fine varieties of nov- 
elty and greatness without one misshapen, de- 
cayed, or lifeless object to lessen its perfec- 
tion ; a morning of the spring without a cloud 
to overcast it ; a sun without a spot, shining 
only with the various colors of unmingled 
light." * 

* Dwight, vol. i, p. 299. 



4 8 



The Angels of God. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE POWER OF ANGELS. 
HIS is a subject of so much interest, it is 



so frequently presented before us in the 
word of God in various forms, and enters so 
largely into the faith of the Church, that, al- 
though directly related to the nature of angels, 
we devote this chapter to its special consider- 
ation. 

The royal psalmist speaks of them as the 
" angels which excel in strength." The Son 
of God calls them the " mighty angels." The 
revelator speaks of a strong angel, proclaiming 
with a loud voice, " Who is worthy to open 
the book, and to unloose the seals thereof?" 
Rev. v, 2. Also of " an angel having great 
power, and the earth was lightened with his 
glory." Rev. xviii, I. St. Paul writes to the 
Thessalonians of the time " when the Lord 
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
mighty angelsT 2 Thess. i, 7. Even the fallen 
angel is called " the god of this world," " the 
prince of the power of the air." And, as Mr. 




The Power of Angels. 49 

Wesley says, " Any good angel must have 
more power than even an archangel ruined." 

But, in the consideration of this question, we 
are not left merely to these utterances, although 
they are sufficient to indicate to us the great- 
ness of their power. There are furnished to us 
in the word of God numerous illustrations of 
their wonderful and terrible power, a power 
which extends over physical nature, over men, 
and over devils, against which human govern- 
ments, vast armies of men, with all their war- 
like appliances, and even all 41 the fiendish 
crew of hell," are as nothing. 

The first illustration of this power is seen 
when they smote the men of Sodom with 
blindness, and, afterward, when at their com- 
mand the cities of the plain were swept by the 
fire-storm, blotted forever out of existence, 
and the dark billows of the Dead Sea made to 
roll where once they stood in their wickedness 
and pride. 

Again, we read that in one night "the angel 

of the Lord went out and smote in the camp 

of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and 

five thousand ; and when they [that is, the few 

survivors] arose early in the morning, behold, 
4 



50 The Angels of God. 

they were all dead corpses." Isa. xxxvii, 36. 
How great the power here displayed against 
this proud and hitherto victorious army, which 
had even, through its commander, dared to blas- 
pheme and defy the God of Israel ! And if 
one angel could accomplish such a work, what 
must be the power of an innumerable multi- 
tude ? Then let us look again at that angel 
which David saw standing between heaven 
and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand. 
In a very brief period seventy thousand men 
had died, and, at the divine command, he had 
now come to destroy the city of Jerusalem, 
but was prevented from so doing by the mercy 
of the Lord, because he repented him of the 
evil, and said to the angel that destroyed : "It 
is enough : stay now thine hand." 

There was a wonderful array of power for 
the protection and preservation of Elisha, 
when the mountain by Dothan was "full of 
horses and chariots of fire." We cannot tell 
why so many were sent to protect one man, 
when one angel has such wondrous power. 
No wonder that the prophet was so calm with 
such a guard around him. And, if our eyes 
were opened in the time of our peril and dan- 



The Power of A ngels. 51 

ger, we should, probably, see something of the 
same heavenly array for our defense and safe- 
ty. The angel of the Lord "shut the lions' 
mouths" that they could not hurt Daniel 
when he was cast into their den. What power 
it required to do this is seen from the fact 
that when those men which had accused the 
prophet, "with their wives and children, were 
cast into the den, the lions had the mastery of 
them, and brake all their bones in pieces or 
ever they came at the bottom of the den." 
Peter lies bound in the prison, and four 
quaternions, or sixteen soldiers, are appoint- 
ed to keep him, by day and by night, as if 
Herod feared that prison bars and prison walls 
were not strong enough, On each side of 
him is a soldier, to whom he is chained, and 
before the prison doors " the keepers kept the 
prison." But the angel of the Lord came 
upon him, and a light shined in the prison, 
and illumined its dark and gloomy walls. At 
the touch of the angel " the chains fall off 
from his hands" so lightly and quietly that the 
keepers are not awakened. He arises, puts on 
his sandals, and throws his garment around 
him, passes through the first and second ward 



52 The Angels of God. 

of the prison unobserved and unharmed, comes 
to " the iron gate, which opened of its own 
accord," and is free, " delivered out of the 
hand of Herod, and from all the expectation 
of the people of the Jews." Acts xii, 6, u. 

In the book of Job and in the book of Rev- 
elation they are represented as having power 
over the elements of nature, holding the four 
winds of heaven, and employing them as in- 
struments of vengeance or of grace, in obedi- 
ence to the divine command, and in harmony 
with the divine will. " In all these instances 
angels are exhibited as endowed with might 
to which other intelligent creatures can make 
no pretensions, and of which men cannot form 
any adequate conception." 

But all this power is limited, dependent and 
derived. For they are only creatures, and are 
" subject to all the limitations which belong to 
creatures. They cannot create, they cannot 
change substances, they cannot alter the laws 
of nature, they cannot perform miracles, they 
cannot act without means, and they cannot 
search the heart ; for all these are prerogatives 
which belong to God. 

" The power of angels is, therefore: I. De- 



The Power of A ngels. 5 3 

pendent and derived. 2. It must be exercised 
in accordance with the laws of the spiritual 
and material world. 3. Their intervention is 
not optional, but permitted as commanded by 
God, and at his pleasure ; and, so far as the 
external world is concerned, it would seem to 
be only occasional and exceptional. These lim- 
itations are of the greatest practical import- 
ance. We are not to regard angels as inter- 
vening between us and God, or to attribute to 
them the effects which the Bible everywhere 
refers to the providential agency of God."* 

* Hodge, vol. i, page 638. 



"Yet far more faire be those bright cherubim, 
Which all with golden wings are over dight, 

And those eternal seraphim, 

Which from their faces dart out fierce light." 

— Spenser. 

" The helmed cherubim, 

And sworded seraphim, 
As seen in the glittering ranks with wings displayed, 
Harping in loud and solemn choir 
With inexpressive notes to heaven's born heir. 

— Milton. 

1 1 Where the bright seraphim in burning row, 
Their loud uplifted trumpets blow, 
And the cherubic host in thousand choirs, 
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires. 



Angels — Their Names aad Orders. 55 



CHAPTER IV. 

ANGELS — THEIR NAMES AND ORDERS. 



HESE wonderful beings, whose existence 



and powers are thus revealed in the 
word of God, are spoken of under various 
names, and as existing and acting in different 
ranks and orders. But, by whatever name 
they are called, and to what rank soever they 
belong, they are always referred to as celestial 
beings, dwelling in another sphere, possessed 
of grander faculties and powers than men, and 
as spotlessly holy, and undeviatingly doing 
the will of God. The most common and gen- 
eral designation of these beings is : 

1. Angels. All their thrones and dominions, 
principalities and powers, names and titles, are 
known under this general name. The Hebrew 
word thus translated is (malaek) and the 
Greek word is ayyeXog, (angelos) Both words 
have the same signification, and denote a mes- 
senger, or one sent. They are all God's mes- 
sengers, sent forth by him to do his bidding, 
obeying always his high behests, bearing to all 




56 The Angels of God. 

worlds, throughout all the vast immensity of 
space, his messages, and fulfilling his wonder- 
ful designs. 

2. Seraphim. This is from a Hebrew word, 
signifying burning ones. " They are an order 
of angels and ministers of God, who stand 
around his throne, each having six wings, also 
hands and feet, and praising God with their 
voice. They are, therefore, of human form," 
(or something resembling the human form,) 
" furnished with wings, as the swift messengers 
of God, like the cherubim ; though by no 
means identical with them, as some have sup- 
posed. They are so called, as being of ele- 
vated rank — princes ; as in Daniel, the arch- 
angels are also called " princes." Dan. x, 13.* 
It has been thought by some that they are 
thus called because it is their mission to exe- 
cute on the wicked the fiery judgments of God. 
But the more general idea is, that this name is 
given to them because of their burning love 
for their Creator, their flaming zeal for his 
honor and glory, and the intense, glowing, pu- 
rity of their nature. We never use the word, 
in any of its relations, without referring in our 

* Robinson's 11 Gesenius," in loco. 



Angels — Their Names and Orders. 57 

minds to one or the other of these elements in 
their character. Isaiah's vision of these beau- 
tiful beings is one of the most thrilling in the 
word of God. In like manner, although the 
name is not there given to them, yet, in com- 
paring this with the vision of Isaiah, we can 
have no doubt as to who the living ones were 
which John saw on the Patmos isle, as the 
vision is recorded in Rev. iv, 6-8. 

3. Cherubim. This name signifies fullness 
of knowledge. In the earliest accounts of 
them they are represented to us as possessed 
of a form, erect, with a face, with two wings, 
and hands. Ezekiel represents them as hav- 
ing four faces — of a man, a lion, an ox, and an 
eagle, but sometimes, as in xli, 19, only with 
two faces, or those of a man and a lion, and 
the whole body as full of eyes. Thus indicat- 
ing that they have the power of flying, look- 
ing, walking, in any direction, without the 
necessity of turning backward. 

The earliest mention of them is in Gen. 
iii, 24, where we read as follows : " So he 
drove out the man : and he placed at the east 
of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming 
sword which turned every way, to keep the 



58 The Angels of God. 

way of the tree of life." They had thus in- 
trusted to them the task of guarding the ap- 
proaches to the tree of life. No previous men- 
tion is made of them ; and they are the first 
order of angelic beings brought to our notice. 
They flame right out here, in the very earliest 
periods of the history of our race, with the 
flaming sword turning every way, showing 
that they are not only beings of great knowl- 
edge, but also of great power. Faber and 
others suppose that these beings guarded the 
tree of life until the time of the deluge, other- 
wise it would have remained in an exposed and 
accessible condition. It is also suggested by 
him, and not without great show of probability, 
that the knowledge of their form and appear- 
ance, in view of the longevity of the antedi- 
luvians, could have easily been transmitted to 
the time of Abraham, and so on to the time 
of Moses. This may be, indeed, the very basal 
idea of those forms which were made for the 
tabernacle, and afterward for the temple. 

We know that when Moses was commanded 
to construct the tabernacle, according to the 
divine plan showed him in the mount, he was 
required to " make two cherubim of gold, of 



Angels — Their Navies and Orders. 59 

beaten work, in the two ends of the mercy- 
seat. And the cherubim shall stretch forth 
their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat 
with their wings, and their faces shall look one 
to another ; toward the mercy-seat shall the 
faces of the cherubim be." Exod. xxv, 18-20.. 
Also, in making the " veil of blue, and purple, 
and scarlet, and fine-twined linen . . . of cunning 
work;" it-was ordered that " with cherubim 
shall it be made." Exod. xxvi, 31. So we 
read in chap, xxxvii, 7, Bezaleel made them 
"two cherubim of gold, beaten out of one 
piece made he them, on the two ends of the 
mercy-seat." It is not at all improbable that, 
by the tradition referred to, Bezaleel, and the 
whole congregation of Israel, may have had 
some knowledge of their general form and ap- 
pearance, as handed down from the earliest 
ages. It was from between these cherubim that 
God promised to meet and commune with 
his ancient people, through their chosen and 
anointed high-priests. 

So when Solomon built the temple, he was 
required to make cherubim, and their forms 
were every-where seen in that magnificent 
building. Their gold-covered wings stretched 



60 The Angels of God. 

over the oracle from wall to wall. They were 
carved on all the walls of the house of the 
Lord, and upon its massive and beautiful 
doors. They were on the borders of the great 
brazen sea ; and last, but by no means least, 
their wings " covered the place of the ark, 
and the staves thereof above." 

When the psalmist prayed that the Lord 
might stir up his strength before " Ephraim and 
Benjamin and Manasseh," he cried, " Thou 
that dwellest between the cherubim, shine 
forth!" Psa. lxxx, I. When Hezekiah cried 
for deliverance from the hosts of Rab-shakeh, 
he said : " O Lord God of Israel, which dwell- 
est between the cherubim, thou art the 
God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of 
the earth." 2 Kings xix, 15. 

Of all the prophets and inspired writers of 
the word of God, Ezekiel speaks of these won- 
derful beings the most frequently. It would 
seem as if their forms, grand and majestic, 
were ever flitting before his eyes. He saw 
them by the river Chebar ; he saw them in his 
vision of the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, 
whither he had been miraculously transported ; 
he saw them lift up their wings, and the won- 



Angels — Their Names and Orders. 61 

drous wheels, full of eyes, beside them, when 
God gave the promise of restoring his people 
to their land ; and he saw them, in vision, up- 
on the walls and doors of the new temple 
which was to be built in the near future. 

Their precise form is unknown to us. The 
representations of them in the tabernacle and 
temple are, perhaps, irrecoverably lost, and 
Ave can only conjecture how they appeared 
from the partial descriptions given of them in 
the word of God. They were, doubtless, " com- 
pound figures, unlike any living animal, or 
real object in nature ; but rather a combina- 
tion in one nondescript artificial image of the 
distinguishing properties of several."* 

It is further evident that the surrounding 
nations borrowed these emblems, or endeav- 
ored to improve upon them , by embodying what 
they knew of them with their own idolatrous 
conceptions. The conjectures as to their 
form and appearance have been multiplied ; 
often crude and meaningless, often the result 
of much erudition and careful investigation, 
but mostly unsatisfactory, as all mere conject- 
ures are apt to be. To us the fact that they 
* M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclop., Art., Cherubim. 



62 The Angels of God, 

are represented as deeply interested in the 
work of our redemption is matter of the 
deepest interest. This is shown in their 
position at the mercy-seat in the taber- 
nacle and temple, where, with their eager 
faces turned downward toward the lid of 
the mercy-seat, they illustrate what the apos- 
tle declares of them : " Which things the 
angels desire to look into." They are also 
represented as connected with the work of 
Providence, as seen in the visions of Ezekiel. 
At other times we behold them employed in 
the various processes of nature. The psalm- 
ist says of God : " He rode upon a cherub, and 
did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the 
wind." Psa. xviii, 10. Thus in the works of 
nature, the wonders of redemption, and the 
mysterious operations of divine providence, 
they have a part — a mission unknown to us — 
but grand and glorious beyond our loftiest Con- 
ceptions. For further and fuller knowledge 
oi them, of their rank and order, we can afford 
to wait until " the day breaks, and the shad- 
ows flee away." 

4. Archangels. According to Jewish tradi- 
tions there are four orders of angels, each un- 



Angels — Their Names and Orders. 63 

der the leadership of an archangel ; the first 
order being that of Michael, the second that 
of Gabriel, the third that of Uriel, and the 
fourth that of Raphael. In the word of God 
only two archangels are spoken of, Michael and 
Gabriel, and the latter is only inferentially of 
this rank. The apocryphal books mention 
Uriel and Raphael. The " Book of Enoch " 
mentions seven. The only places in the word 
of God where this title occurs are, in 1 Thess. 
iv, 16: " For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel, and with the trump of God ; " 
and in Jude 9, " Yet Michael the archangel, 
when contending with the devil he disputed 
about the body of Moses, durst not bring against 
him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord re- 
buke thee." Michael is also spoken of in 
Dan. x, 13-21 : where he appears as the patron 
and guardian of the Jewish nation. Again, in 
the book of Revelation, xii, 7, "And there was 
war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought 
against the dragon ; and the dragon fought 
and his angels." Gabriel is spoken of in 
Luke i, 19 ; " And the angel answering said unto 
him, [Zacharias,] I am Gabriel, that stand in the 



64 



The Angels of God. 



and to show thee these glad tidings." Also 
in ver. 26 : " And in the sixth month the angel 
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Gali- 
lee, named Nazareth." In Rev. viii, 2, we 
read of seven angels who stand before God. 
They are represented as having authority over 
other angels, and as having charge of particular 
nations. It is not at all impossible that these 
seven angels may be ranked, as the book of 
Enoch states, as archangels. The angels are 
frequently spoken of as hosts, and armies ; and 
as having heads, or leaders, who are designated 
by this term. To the archangel Gabriel was 
given the honor of announcing the first ad- 
vent of our Lord ; it may be that he will have 
the honor of proclaiming his second. He will 
be at the head of all the mighty angels who 
shall appear with the Son of Man when he 
comes in his glory. Thedoret has well said, 
" That if the sound of the trumpet, when the 
law was given from Mt. Sinai, was so dreadful 
t: :::e Jews :::?,: ::;ey s?Ai ur.:: Mcse-f. Le: 
not the Lord speak unto us, lest we die; how 
terrible must be the sound of this trumpet 
[the archangel's] which will call all men to the 



Angels — Their Names and Orders. 65 

final judgment ! " In reference to the conten- 
tion between Michael and the d evil about the 
body of Moses, various conjectures have been 
made. " In the Targum of Onkelos on Deut. 
xxxiv, 6. it is stated that the grave of Moses 
was given into the special custody of Michael. 
This primitive tradition is referred to by Jude, 
and by him treated as a matter of fact : and. 
is to be regarded as matter of fact by all who 
hold this epistle as part of the Canonical 
Scriptures."* 

5. Sons of God. This title is only once ap- 
plied to angels in the Bible, Job xxxviii. 7. 
For the latter clause the Chaldee renders, in 
place of " all the sons of God," all the troops of 
angels. " This appellation indicates their ori- 
gin as created by God, and their very near re- 
lations to him. They are his unfallen sons. 
They are his eldest sons. Their brightness 
and glory are like the morning stars. They 
stand near to his throne, reflecting his glory 
and forever uttering his praise." All true 
believers are also called sons of God. But 
they are so by adoption and free grace, 
though faith in Chris: Jesus, The angels are 

* Aliord. in loco. 

5 



66 The Angels of God* 

sons by creation, and the ties of their filiation 
have never been sundered. Yet, such is their 
interest in saved and redeemed men, that they 
are unceasing in their praises of the work of 
redemption, which secured their adoption into 
the family of God ; and are evermore em- 
ployed in carrying out the purposes of that 
redeeming work. 

6. Watchers. These are spoken of only in the 
book of Daniel, iv, 13-17, 23, and in con- 
nection with the remarkable dream of Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The word signifies one who 
wakes, or watches, and excites others. Bishop 
Horsley contends that these are not angels, 
but denote the persons of the Godhead. In 
this opinion, however, he has had only a small 
following. Calvin and Calmet, and nearly all 
Protestant and Catholic writers regard the 
word as referring to the angels. The word indi- 
cates their sleepless vigilance. They watch 
by day and by night the objects of their care. 
There is no cessation in their service, as they 
go forth on tireless wing to dp the bidding of 
their Lord. 

7. Living Ones, In the book of Revelation 
these £wa, are very improperly spoken of in our 



A7tgcls — Their Names and Orders. 67 

translation as " beasts." In Ezekiel's vision they 
are denominated, as they should have been in 
John's, " living creatures " or living ones. That 
is, indeed, the very meaning of the word, and it 
is difficult to understand why our translators 
rendered it as they did. There is nothing 
about them by which they could be compared 
to beasts. They are represented as having 
parts, endowments, powers, superior to beasts. 
They are not only spoken of as intelligent, 
but as having the highest forms of intelli- 
gence. " They are full of eyes, before and be- 
hind." They are six-winged, like Isaiah's 
seraphim ; and so ceaseless is their praise that 
they rest not day or night, saying, " Holy, 
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, 
and is, and is to come." Indeed, it would 
seem as if they were the very leaders of the 
heavenly choirs ; for " when these living ones 
give glory and honor and thanks to Him who 
sits upon the throne, and who liveth for ever 
and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down 
before the throne, and worship him, and cast 
their crowns before him." We trust that in 
the revision of the Scriptures, this word faa 
will be properly rendered, which will save a 



68 The Angels of God. 

multitude of explanations and misconceptions 
growing out of the present unfortunate ren- 
dering. 

8. Thrones^ dominions, principalities, and 
powers. These are referred to by the Apos- 
tle Paul in Col. i, 16, where he speaks of 
Christ as the creator of all things " that are in 
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and in- 
visible." In a similar manner he says to the 
Ephesians that Christ is now at the right hand 
of God, M far above all principality, and pow- 
er, and might, and dominion, and every name 
that is named, not only in this world, but also 
in that which is to come," Some writers have 
vainly endeavored to distinguish between 
these various titles and orders, and to assign 
their places in the heavenly world. But, as 
Meyer well remarks, " For Christian faith it 
remains fixed, and it is sufficient, that there is 
testimony borne to the different degrees and 
categories in the world of spirits above ; 
but all attempts to fix their degrees, be- 
yond what is written in the New Testament, 
belong to the fanciful domain of theosophy." 

We have thus presented the principal 
names, titles, and orders of these celestial be- 



Angels — Their Names and Orders. 69 

ings, as they are referred to in the word 
of God. There are other names, such as 
" gods/' and' " morning stars," which are ap- 
plied to them, which we need not pause to 
consider. Those which have been given serve 
to show most clearly how nearly these won- 
derful beings are allied to God, how high they 
rank in the order of intelligences, how won- 
derful are their powers, how important are 
their employments, how unslumbering is their 
vigilance, and how unceasing are their songs 
of praise. We have not found it necessary to 
wander off into the airy region of dreams, 
speculations, and conjectures to form a prop- 
er estimate of these celestial beings. In fact, 
just in proportion as we leave the teachings of 
the divine word on this subject, the more crude, 
puerile, unintelligent, and unsatisfactory are 
our conceptions. Enough is revealed to show 
us how numerous and glorious and how pow- 
erful they are, and, what is of still greater 
importance to us, w r hat interest they have in 
us ; and, generally, what ministrations they 
fulfill for us. For the rest we wait until 
we see as we are seen, and know as we are 
known. 



" An innumerable company ol angels." 

" Thrones, virtues, principalities, and powers, 
Over whose names and high estates of bliss 
I must not linger now, crowned hierarchs ; 
And numbers without number under them 
In order ranged — some girt with flaming swords, 
And others bearing golden harps, though all 
Heaven's choristers are militant at will, 
And all its martial ranks are priestly choirs." 

— BlCKERSTETH ! 

Yesterday, To-day, a?id Forever. 

" There were the cherubim instinct with eyes : 
And there the crowned elders on their thrones, 
Encircling with a belt of starry light 
The everlasting throne of God ; and round, 
Wave after wave, myriads of flaming ones 
From mightiest potentates and mid degrees, 
Unto the least of the angelic choirs." — Ibid, 



The Number of Angels. 



71 



CHAPTER V. 

THE NUMBER OF ANGELS. 

II IE have no powers of computation by 
* * which we are able to give even a proxi- 
mate estimate of the number of the angels of 
God. The numbers which are furnished us in 
the word of God, while, in some instances, they 
are .somewhat definite, only serve to show us 
how vast and incomprehensible they are. All 
along the line of sacred story, from Genesis to 
Revelation, the sacred writers, inspired by 
the Holy Ghost, tell us something of the count- 
less hosts of these celestial beings. The first 
glimpse afforded us of these numbers is in the 
vision of the patriarch Jacob, on his way to 
Padan-Aram, as he lay sleeping upon his 
earthy bed and his stony pillows. There he saw 
a ladder, stretching from earth to heaven, 
( perhaps emblematical of the divine and hu- 
man nature of the Son of God,) and " the angels 
of God ascending and descending upon it." 
Not only did the patriarch see the whole dis- 
tance from earth to heaven spanned by this 



72 The Angels of God. 

ladder, but all along the vast sweep the angels 
were thronging it in their upward and down- 
ward flight. Xo doubt can be entertained, 
here, that the vision was intended to teach 
it is only through our Lord Jesus Christ that 
the visitations and ministrations of angels are 
enjoyed by the children of men. The Son of 
God himself declared to Xathanael, in the 
midst of his wonderment and surprise at the 
revelation of the Messiah to him as the Son of 
God, the King of Israel : " Verily, verily, I say 
unto you. Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, 
and the angels of God ascending and descend- 
ing upon the Son of man." 

Again the patriarch was permitted to meet 
the angels of God. It was on the return jour- 
ney from the land of his sojourn, and as he 
was fleeing with his family and servants, and 
numerous flocks and herds, from the shrewd 
meanness and unnatural selfishness of Laban. 
A great trial was before him. w He fled from 
one peril and danger only to encounter an- 
other, which, at least for the time, seemed 
more formidable and dangerous. For Esau, 
his offended and enraged brother, had some- 
how heard of Jacob's flight, and was on his 



The Number of Angels, 73 

way to meet him with four hundred men, and, 
doubtless, with a hostile intent. " All this was 
unknown at the moment, although the wily 
and wary patriarch had taken precautionary 
measures to appease the wrath of his brother, 
who had now become a powerful sheik, and 
the head of a warlike tribe, and by his mar- 
riage with one of the descendants of Ishmael 
was, doubtless, in alliance with the wild and 
predatory Bedouins of the desert. The history 
of this event opens beautifully, and closes with 
a grand triumph for Israel, then the " prince, 
having power with God and with man, and 
prevailing/' " And Jacob went on his way, and 
the angels of God met him. And when he 
saw them, he said : This is God 's host. And 
he called the name of that place Mahanaim, 
which signifies, two hosts." These angels were 
God's hosts, mayhap the same which he had 
seen in the vision as he went toward Haran. 
But why " did he call the name of that place 
Mahanaim, that is, two camps ? to intimate 
that the host of God had been his protectors, 
when wandering from his father's house, and 
were still engaged for his defense now that he is 
returning to the land of his kindred ? Or did 



74 The Angels of God. 

he wish to indicate that the host of God en- 
camped before him as his vanguard, and be- 
hind him as his rearward? It matters not; 
the truth abides the same. ' The angel of the 
Lord encampeth round about them that fear 
him, and delivereth them/ Some good men 
have sought to prove from the Scriptures that 
God gives each of his children a guardian an- 
gel. This , is not half the truth. He gives 
many. He gives a host) yea, he gives two 
camps for their defense."* 

Angels are frequently represented as God's 
army, God's soldiers, fighting for his people 
against their enemies, and encamping round 
about them for their safety and protection. 
The appearance of these angels was designed 
to assure Jacob of God's protection amid the 
difficulties and dangers which were now, al- 
though unknown to him, surrounding his 
way. 

The next appearance of a multitude of an- 
gels was upon Mount Sinai, in the midst of 
the grand and sublime accompaniments of the 
giving of the law. Although not directly re- 
ferred to by the historian, their presence on 

* Dr. Berg, " Demons and Guardian Angels, p. 212. 



The Number of A ngels. 75 

that occasion is referred to by the psalmist 
sublimely, when he exclaims: " The chariots 
of God are twenty thousand, even many thou- 
sands of angels : [marginal reading :] the Lord 
is among them as in Sinai, the holy place." 
Saint Stephen also refers to the presence of an- 
gels on that wonderful occasion. It was the 
angels who sounded the trumpet and minis- 
tered before the Lord as he descended upon 
the burning and quaking mount ; and they 
were the instruments through whom the law 
was given. 

The next vision of their numbers was re- 
served for the persecuted and faithful prophet 
of the Lord, Micaiah. He was suddenly sum- 
moned into the presence of Ahab, the king 
of Israel, who hated him because he only 
prophesied evil concerning him, and not good ; 
and of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who de- 
sired to inquire of the Lord before going into 
battle. The messenger who summoned him 
endeavored to persuade him to prophesy 
smooth things, as the prophet of Baal had done. 
But, with the sublime heroism of the old 
prophets, he answered, " As the Lord liv- 
eth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will 



j6 The Angels of God. 

I speak." Now in the presence of these kings, 
and the four hundred prophets of Baal, who were 
urging on the wicked Ahab to battle, he is 
honored with a vision of the host of God. He 
said to them, " I saw the Lord sitting on his 
throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing by 
him, on his right hand and on his left." 
1 Kings xxii, 19. So the Lord always honors 
his faithful servants in the time of their perse- 
cution and trial. 

But still more clear and distinct was the vis- 
ion which Elisha and his servant enjoyed in the 
beleaguered city of Dothan. The king of 
Syria had ki sent thither horses, and chariots, 
and a heavy host ; and they came by night 
and compassed the city." The servant of the 
man of God had risen early and gone forth, 
when he beheld this host compassing the city. 
Returning in breathless haste, frightened 
greatly, he said, " Alas, my master! how shall 
we do? " But the prophet of the Lord said, 
" Fear not : for they that be with us are more 
than they that be with them." Then he 
prayed and said : " Lord, I pray thee, open his 
eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened 
the eyes of the young man : and he saw : and 



The Number of Angels. 77 

behold, the mountain was full of horses and 
chariots of fire round about Elisha." These 
" horses and chariots of fire " in their vast mul- 
titude only represented hosts by which they 
were guided and controlled. When the serv- 
ant saw his master surrounded by such a host 
he no longer wondered at his calmness and 
composure, but shared himself in the sense of 
security and safety. The royal psalmist, when 
calling upon all intelligent beings to praise the 
Lord, says : " Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts ; 
ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. " And 
yet again, when he calls upon all things, animate 
and inanimate, to praise God, he says, " Praise 
ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his 
hosts 99 

The prophet Ezekiel, in his wonderful vis- 
ion, abundantly confirms the greatness of the 
numbers of these angelic hosts. He says: 
" And w r hen they [the living creatures] 
went, I heard the noise of their wings, like 
the noise of great waters, as the voice of the 
Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise 
of a host : when they stood, they let down 
their wings." Ezek. i, 24. 

What a vision this of the immense multitude 



78 The Afigels of God. 

of these living ones ! How must the sound of 
the noise of their wings ever after have been 
ringing in his ears ! Certainly, the tread of 
the mightiest armies, and the tramp of earth's 
multitudinous hosts, never produced such a 
noise as this. 

It was given to Daniel, however, the " man 
greatly beloved," to have a clearer vision of 
their numbers than any other of the Old Tes- 
tament prophets. It was in that vision in which 
had passed before him in one grand panoram- 
ic view the rise and fall of the mightiest king- 
doms which the world has ever seen ; the 
uprising of the kingdom of the Messiah, ex- 
celling them all in its grandeur, power, and glo- 
ry, and outlasting them all in its duration ; and 
the casting down, the vanquishment, of all the 
foes of " the Ancient of days." It was at the 
close of this vision, as he beheld the thrones 
of earth cast down, that he saw " the Anciemt 
of days sit, whose garment was white as snow, 
and the hair of his head like the pure wool : 
his throne was like the fiery flame, and his 
wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued 
and came forth from before him." Then there 
arose before Daniel's wondering eyes a mighty 



The Number of Angels. 



79 



host, the number of which he vainly endeav- 
ored to compute, but which seemed to him as 
countless. He speaks of them as the^" thou- 
sand thousands " who ministered unto the Lord : 
and as " ten thousand times ten thousand" 
standing before him. This accords with the 
vision of the revelator, seven hundred years 
afterward : " And I beheld, and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne, 
and the living ones, and the elders ; and the 
number of them was ten thousand times ten 
thousand, and thousands of thousands" Now, 
right in this connection, let us again read the 
language of our Saviour to Peter, when in his 
fear and rage he was ready to draw his sword and 
lift up his feeble arm against those who came to 
take Jesus. " Thinkest thou that I cannot now 
pray to my Father, and he shall presently 
give me more than twelve legions of angels ? " 
And, then, let us read again the language in 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, that he, and the 
whole Church of God, are now " come to an 
innumerable company [pvpidoiv, myriads'] of an- 
gels" Grouping these estimates together, we 
learn something of the vastness of their num- 
ber, and it is perfectly overwhelming to our 



80 The Angels of God. 

minds. What, in comparison with them, are 
all the armies of this world ! 

" Great Xerxes, world in arms, 
Proud Cannae's host," 

dwindle into comparative insignificance. How 
contemptible, then, were the numbers who 
had come to arrest the Son of God ! There 
were a few Roman soldiers from the temple 
guard, or the Castle of Antonia, present, with 
the rabble ; but he saw " more than twelve 
legions of angels" awaiting simply the signal 
from him. The full complement of a Roman 
legion was six thousand men : but here are 
more than twelve legions of angels, or more than 
seventy-two thousand, with their horses and 
chariots of fire, their swords and spears, to 
avenge their Lord. But he would not ask it ; 
for " how, then, ''could " the Scriptures be ful- 
filled? " How could man then be redeemed? 
It would have been to frustrate the whole pur- 
pose of the incarnation, the life of toil, pover- 
ty, persecution, and sorrow, and to leave hu- 
manity unransomed, for them now to come to 
his deliverance. 

Then look at the myriads of angels spoken of 



The Number of Angels. 8r 

in the Epistle to the Hebrews. A myriad is 
ten thousand ; but the writer of the epistle 
does not tell us how many myriads there are. 
Daniel and John tell us that there are ten 
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands 
of thousands. Did we ever pause to compute 
these given numbers? Do we not know that 
ten thousand times ten thousand are a hun- 
dred millions; and thousands of thousands are 
millions more ; how many, who can tell ? All 
this, we believe, is only a glimpse of the great- 
ness of their numbers ; yet from these estimates 
we gather that there are almost countless 
millions of these heavenly hosts who wait 
upon the bidding of their Lord, and are 
employed by him in his vast operations in 
the realms of creation, in the plans of his 
providence, and in carrying out the designs 
of redemption. Then, when we think of 
the power of one angel, what work has 
been wrought by the power of his arm, we 
are ready to ask, What must be the power of 
these mighty hosts ? What will be the array 
of power and glory " when the Son of man 
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 

with him ! " What comfort does this furnish 
6 



82 The Angels of God. 

to the saints of God ! Often they imagine 
themselves to be all alone, and unbefriended 
in the world ; but here they learn that all 
these angels are interested in them. What 
a comfort to the ministers of the Lord Jesus, 
who are often faint and discouraged in their 
work of faith and labor of love ! O that our 
eyes might be opened, and the vision of our 
faith enlarged, so that we might see the powers 
which are arrayed for our help, our protection, 
and our safety ! Were this so, our hands would 
never hang down, our hearts would never be 
discouraged, and our fears would evanish as 
the morning mists before the rising of the 
sun. 

But it is not merely the thought of having 
their presence and ministrations with us here 
on the earth which is source of so much com- 
fort and joy to our hearts ; it is also the hope 
of seeing them, of mingling in their society, of 
listening to their songs of joy, and learning 
from them the wonders of creation, of provi- 
dence, and of redemption. What a company ! 
What a society will that be ! Rawson says, 
" One loves to dwell upon it ; there is some- 
thing sublime in the thought of a vast multi- 



The Number of Angels. 



83 



tude of intelligent and purified beings, every 
intellect and every heart rising in adoration to 
Him who sits upon the throne, and to the 
Lamb for ever and ever." We cannot disas- 
sociate the company of the angels from the 
company of the redeemed. They are one 
company — they have one song. Well does 
Wesley sing — 

" Lift your eyes of faith, and see 

Saints and angels joined in one; 
What a countless company 
* Stand before yon dazzling throne ! 

Prostrate on their face, before 

God and the Messiah fall; 
Then in hymns of praise adore ; 

Shout the Lamb that died for all.'' 



" And is there care in heaven ? And is there love 
In heavenly spirits to these creatures bace, 
That may compassion of their evils move ? 
There is : else much more wretched were the cace 
Of men than beasts : but, O the exceeding grace 
Of highest God ! that loves his creatures so, 
And all his workes with mercy doth embrace, 
That blessed angels he sends to and fro, 
To serve to wicked man, to serve His wicked foe ! 

How oft do they their silver bowers leave 
To come to succour us that succour want ! 
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave 
The flitting skyes, like flying pursuivant, 
Against fowle feendes to ayd us militant ! 
They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward, 
And their bright squadrons round about us plant ; 
And all for love, and nothing for reward : 
O why should hevenly God to men have such regard! " 

— Spenser, Faei'ie Queene. 

" Aerial spirits, by great Jove designed 
To be on earth the guardians of mankind ; 
Invisible to mortal eyes, they go 
And mark our actions, good or bad, below ; 
The immortal spies with watchful care preside, 
And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide ; 
They can reward with glory or with gold ; 
Such power divine permission bids them hold." 

— Hesiod. 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits? 85 



CHAPTER VI. 

ARE THEY NOT ALL MINISTERING SPIRITS ? 

THE guardianship and ministrations of 
angels are among the most delightful 
themes which the mind can contemplate. 
The manner and extent of these ministrations 
will, from the very nature of the case, never 
be fully known to us in this world. Yet, the 
revealed word so clearly announces the fact, and 
so repeatedly illustrates it, we cannot doubt 
that in a thousand ways, by us " unseen, un- 
known/' and during the whole of our earthly 
pilgrimage, these ministrations are enjoyed 
by the " heirs of salvation." It is very proba- 
ble, that in a sense all the human family, as it 
is redeemed by Christ, shares in these atten- 
tions, and that angels are employed in the 
great processes of the redemption of our world. 
We think that it is very safe to affirm, that 
every redeemed sinner, just because he is re- 
deemed, has angelic as well as human agencies 
brought to bear upon him for his salvation. 
And we have the highest authority, even that 



86 The Angels of God. 

of the Son of God himself, for saying, that 
such is the interest of the angels in the salvation 
of sinners, that when the first tears of penitence 
are in their eyes, and the first prayer for par- 
don comes from their lips, there is joy in heav- 
en, in their presence, and a new song and a 
new triumph swell over the plains of immor- 
tality. In order that there might be no possible 
misunderstanding concerning this, the Lord 
Jesus uttered it twice in one discourse, thus 
forever encouraging the hearts of dying men 
and women with the great thought that the 
highest orders of created intelligences in the 
universe have the deepest interest in their 
spiritual and eternal well-being. Thus, while 
the special visitations and ministrations of an- 
gels are enjoyed by the " heirs of salvation/' 
yet even ungodly persons, to a certain extent, 
and within a limited period, are also favored 
with them. As to the childhood of the race, the 
question is settled beyond a peradventure, 
The Lord of the angels has said of all its 
members : " I say unto you, that in heaven 
their angels do always behold the face of my 
Father which is in heaven." 

That angelical spirits can communicate with 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits? 87 

our spirits cannot be doubted. All admit 
that evil spirits have this power, and if they 
have it, certainly the good angels have the 
same power, at least, which they possess. On 
this subject Mr. Wesley says : " We cannot 
doubt that the angels know the hearts of those 
to whom they more immediately minister. 
Much less can we doubt of their knowing the 
thoughts that are in our hearts at any partic- 
ular time. What should hinder their seeing 
them as they arise? Not the thin veil of flesh 
and blood. Can these intercept the view of a 
spirit ? Nay, 

' Walls within walls no more its passage bar, 
Then unopposing space of liquid air/ 

Far more easily, then, and far more perfectly, 
than we can read a man's thoughts in his face, 
do these sagacious beings read our thoughts 
just as they rise in our hearts, inasmuch as 
they see the kindred spirit more clearly than 
we see the body." These ministrations, he al- 
so affirms, are, in the first place, to our souls. 
" They can, in a thousand ways, apply to our 
understanding. They may assist us in our 
search for truth, remove many doubts and 



88 The Angels of God. 

difficulties, throw light on what was before 
dark and obscure, and confirm us in the 
truth. They may warn us of evil in disguise, 
and place what is good in a clear, strong light. 
They may gently move our will to embrace 
that which is good, and flee from that which 
is ill. They may quicken our dull affections, 
increase our holy hope or filial fear, and assist 
us more ardently to love God, who first loved 
us." 

He also avers, in the most explicit words, 
their ministrations to our bodies, " preventing 
our falling into dangers, delivering us out 
of others, although we know not often whence 
our deliverance comes, preserving us in sud- 
den and dangerous falls, and ministering to 
our cure in the time of sickness." He adds: 
" How often does God deliver us from evil 
men by the ministry of his angels — overturn- 
ing whatever their rage, or malice, or subtilty, 
had plotted against us ! These are about their 
bed, and about their path, and privy to all 
their dark designs ; and many of them they 
probably brought to naught by means that we 
think not of. Sometimes they blast their fa- 
vorite schemes in the beginning ; sometimes, 



Are They Hot all Ministering Spirits? 89 

when they are just ripe for execution. And 
this they can do by a thousand means that we 
are not aware of. They can check them in 
their mad career by bereaving them of cour- 
age or strength, by striking faintness through 
their loins, or turning their wisdom into fool- 
ishness. And who can hurt us while we have 
armies of angels, and the God of angels, on our 
side?"* 

It has been thought by some persons that 
every one has a guardian angel, whose special 
duty it is to watch over him all along through 
the journey of life, from the cradle to the 
grave. For this belief the word of God furnish- 
es no positive proof. The idea is of Jewish 
origin, and is also held by some heathen 
writers. There are two portions of the word 
of God which are relied upon by the advo- 
cates of this theory to prove their position. 
The first is in Matt, xviii, 10, where our Sav- 
iour, in speaking of little children, says, 
" That in heaven their angels do always be- 
hold the face of my Father which is in heav- 
en/" But this passage, while it teaches that 
children are under the guardianship of angels, 

Wesley's Sermons," vol. ii, 



go The A?tgels of God. 

does not teach that children have each a guard- 
ian angel who particularly watches over him, 
or that believers have each a guardian angel 
who w r atches over him. We have no sympa- 
thy with the view of Mr. Watson on this pas- 
sage, who, in order to escape the theory of in- 
dividual guardianship, regards the passage as 
not referring to the angels at all, but only " to 
the disembodied spirits of the disciples them- 
selves. ,, According to this, the passage would 
read : " Take heed that ye despise not one of 
these little ones ; for I say unto you that in 
heaven their disembodied spirits do always 
behold the face of my Father which is in 
heaven.'* This is a sufficient answer, we think, 
to his strange and unsupported hypothesis. 
Alford says, in his comments upon this text, 
that the word ayyekoi never has the meaning 
of departed spirits. The other passage re- 
ferred to is in Acts xii, 15 : where Peter's an- 
gel is spoken of. This, however, no more 
proves that Peter had a special guardian angel 
than it would prove that Peter had a ghost, if 
the servant-maid had said it was Peter's ghost. 
The writers merely used language which was 
then, according to the popular superstition- 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits? 91 

and is now frequently used in the latter sense, 
when we say of a person whom we think we 
have seen, " It was either he or his ghost/' 
The word of God sometimes speaks of one an- 
gel guarding God's saints, and sometimes of a 
host who defend and protect them. Where 
there is no clear indication in the word of God 
upon these questions we do well to avoid all 
dogmatic utterances concerning them. It is 
enough for us to know, they are " #// minister- 
ing spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation ; " and whether one, 
or a host, is needed, the Lord of the angels 
disposeth of them according to his sovereign 
will. The evidences of these ministrations are 
ample, and the illustrations and examples are 
multiplied in the divine word. 

The earliest instance upon record of angelic- 
al guardianship is found in the case of Hagar. 
Driven out from her home by the jealousy of 
her mistress, she sought a refuge and a rest in 
the wilderness of Beersheba. After a little 
while the water in the bottle was spent, and 
her famished child moaned piteously for drink. 
At length she saw the dark shadows of death 
gathering over his brow, and she gave up all 



92 The Angels of God. 

hope of being able to save him. Her mother- 
ly heart could not bear the thought of seeing 
him die ; so she laid him down under the 
shadow of one of the scanty shrubs of the wil- 
derness. Then, unable to contain her grief 
any longer, she sat over against him, and lifted 
up her voice and wept. Her cries, mingled 
with the dying moans of her son, touched the 
heart, as well as reached the ear, of God, and 
he sent an angel, who " called to her out of 
heaven," when, behold, to her joyful and won- 
dering eyes a well of water was disclosed, 
from which the thirst of the child was assuaged, 
the exhausted bottle was again filled, and the 
dying boy was saved to be the father of a 
great nation, whose descendants, even at the 
present day, number one hundred and twenty 
millions of the world's population. 

Again, we behold the exercise of this guard- 
ianship in the deliverance of Lot from the 
fiery storm which swept the cities of the plain. 
After the terrible scenes of the night were over, 
and when the morning arose, then the angels 
hastened Lot, saying, "Arise, take thy wife, 
and thy two daughters, which are here; lest 
thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city." 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits? 93 

"While he lingered, the men laid hold upon 
his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and up- 
on the hand of his two daughters ; the Lord be- 
ing merciful unto him : and they brought him 
forth, and set him without the city." Gen. 
xix, 16. For some cause he lingered. What 
should he do ? There, near the city he was 
leaving, were his flocks and herds ; in that 
city were his daughters and sons-in-law ; how 
could he leave them? Besides this, there were 
no appearances of the threatened destruction. 
The morning had dawned clear and beautiful. 
Perhaps the rich plain of Jordan, with its 
doomed cities, had never appeared more 
beautiful to him than it did on that morn- 
ing. Even after he had entered Zoar, the 
sun rose in brightness and beauty and flooded 
the whole plain with his glory. 

We would not overlook the fact that Abra- 
ham not only recognized this angelic guidance 
in sending his servant for a wife for his son 
Isaac, but that he also, in a special manner, 
in the most crucial period of his history, 
enjoyed the angelic guardianship and interpo- 
sition. It was in the time when, not stagger- 
ing at God's promise, or faltering in his obedi- 



94 The Angels of God, 

ence to God's command, he had bound his 

son Isaac, his only son, whom he loved, upon 
the altar, and the sacrificial knife was uplifted 
to slay him, that the angel of the Lord called 
to him out of heaven and said, " Lay not thine 
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything un- 
to him : for now I know that thou fearest God, 
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine 
only son, from me." A^ain, in sending his 
servant Eliezer to Mesopotamia, when he asked 
of his master the important question, " Perad- 
venture the woman will not be willing to fol- 
low me unto this land : must I needs bring 
thy son again unto the land whence thou 
earnest?" the aged patriarch answered, with 
that sublime, heroic faith which always char- 
acterized him : " The Lord God of heaven . . . 
he shall send his angel before thee." Genesis 
xxiVj 7. This was repeated by the servant to 
Nahor and his household. Verse 40. How 
wonderfully this faith was honored is learned 
from the whole narrative, as recorded in the 
chapter referred to. 

We have already seen how the Patriarch 
Jacob was attended in his wilderness journey, 
not only by one angel, but by a heavenly 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 95 

host, whom he saw thronging the vast ex- 
panse of the ladder, hovering around his 
wear}', aching head, and who guarded his way ; 
and that when he returned from his long 
banishment in Padan-Aram, and -not only 
his own life, but also those of his wives and 
children were imperiled, not only an angel, 
but the angels of God, even two camps, or 
hosts, met him for his encouragement and 
subsequent deliverance. 

As we glide along down the stream of histo- 
ry, we see that the next special interposition 
of angels is that which was enjoyed by Joshua. 
The moment was a critical one. Israel had 
passed in triumph through the waters of the 
Jordan on dry ground. They were now in an 
enemy's land. The news of this wonderful 
event had been quickly transmitted to " all the 
kings of the Amorites, which were on the side 
of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the 
Canaanites, which were by the sea ; and when 
they heard of the passage " their hearts 
melted, neither was there spirit in them 
any more." While this consternation was 
upon them Joshua was commanded to cir- 
cumcise the children of Israel," thus disab- 



g6 The Angels of God. 

ling every man in his army, and making 
them a ready prey to their enemies, if they 
had been attacked. It is not at all improba- 
ble that so astute and able a commander as 
Joshua was had not been without his fears 
as to the results of this procedure. But in 
this emergency, as he was by Jericho, he " lifted 
up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there 
stood a man over against him with his sword 
drawn in his hand : and Joshua went unto him, 
and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our 
adversaries ? And he said, Nay ; but as cap- 
tain [marg., u prince"] of the host of the Lord 
am I now come." This was wonderfully assur- 
ing to the great captain and warrior of Israel. 
This was not the first time that an angel with 
a drawn sword had appeared to defend the Is- 
raelites : for when Balaam was on his way to 
curse them, the angel had drawn his sword and 
withstood him in his pusillanimous and vacil- 
lating career. Had he then regarded the mo- 
nition and turned back, he would not subse- 
quently have been slain among the enemies 
of Israel, and his name would not have been 
held up for the execration of the ages, as a 
synonym of all that is base, and low, and vile. 



Are They -not all Ministering Spirits ? 97 

We reserve the angelic interposition and 
ministration in the translation of Elijah for 
another chapter. But Ave cannot overlook an 
incident in his history which beautifully illus- 
trates the subject under consideration. Elijah 
had just enjoyed his triumph over the priests 
of Baal, and had witnessed, in answer to his 
prayer, the clouds gathering over the parched 
land of Israel, and pouring their refreshing and 
fruitful contents upon it. But the hour of his 
victory was, also, the hour of his peril. For 
Jezebel, enraged beyond measure at the 
slaughter of her favorite priests, had sent a 
messenger to Elijah, saying: " So let the gods 
do to me, and more also, if I make not thy 
life as the life of one of them by to-morrow 
about this time." An unaccountable fear and 
dread seems to have taken possession of him, 
and he arose and went for his life into the 
very recesses of the wildernesses of Beer-sheba, 
where, weary, discouraged, and heart-sick, he 
sat down under a juniper-tree and requested 
for himself that he might die ; saying, " It is 
enough ; now, O Lord, take away my life : for 
I am not better than my fathers. " Thus ex- 
hausted, he fell asleep. But while he slept 



98 The Angels of God. 

a wonderful ministration had been granted in 
his behalf. An angel had quietly, with noise- 
less tread and skillful hand, prepared his food 
for him ; and when the meal was ready, he 
gently touched the sleeping prophet, and 
awakened him, requesting him to arise and 
eat. Before his wondering eyes there was not 
only the beautiful face and form of the an- 
gel, but he saw, also, " a cake, baken on the 
coals, and a cruse of water at his bolster." Ac- 
cepting the invitation, he rose, and ate and 
drank, and then "laid him down again. " But 
he was not to rest there. For again the angel 
came and touched him, saying : " Arise and 
eat ; because the journey is too great for thee." 
Then again " he arose, and did eat and drink, 
and went in the strength of that meat forty 
days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount 
of God." This is the only recorded instance 
where an angel has prepared food for a saint 
of God. What a meal that must have been ! 
what strength and vigor it must have imparted, 
when he could go in the strength of it for so 
many days and nights ! Beautiful and blessed 
illustration this of angelic ministration in the 
humblest offices of human life. There is only 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 99 

one instance upon record which surpasses this 
in interest and beauty. That was, when the 
risen Son of God himself prepared the break- 
fast for his weary disciples. They had toiled 
all the live-long night and caught nothing, 
But in the gray dawn of the morning, Jesus 
stood upon the shores of the Galilean Sea. 
The disciples, however, did not know that it 
was he until, at his bidding, they had cast the 
net on the right side of the ship, and made 
that wonderful haul of fishes, Then John's 
quick perception discovered that it was the 
Lord, and this he told Peter. This was 
enough for that ardent disciple ; and, girding 
his fisherman's coat around him, he plunged 
into the sea and swam rapidly to the shore. 
As soon as the other disciples had come to the 
land they saw, doubtless to their astonishment, 
a fire of coals, " and fish laid thereon, and 
bread." Then the blessed Christ said, " Come 
and dine/' and he, with his own blessed hands, 
served them. We have put this incident 
alongside of the narrative concerning Elijah, 
to mark the similarity between the food pre- 
pared by the angel and that prepared by the 
Lord of the angels. It was no cold and dry meal. 



ioo The Angels of God. 

It was a cake baked on the coals in the one 
instance ; it was fish and bread upon the hot 
coals in the other. We do not know whence 
the angel obtained the meal for the cake ; or 
the bottle or cruse for the water; or where the 
Son of God obtained the fish and the bread. 
It is enough for us to know that thus the 
prophet and the apostles were fed. And for 
the comfort of God's saints, it is well to re- 
member that neither the angel nor the Lord 
of angels has any less power now than they 
had then. 

Let us now turn our attention to the two 
well-know r n instances of angelic guardianship 
recorded in the book of Daniel, which have 
been dwelt upon in the Church with delight 
and triumph in all the ages. To the general 
reader it w r ould seem that the deliverance of 
the three Hebrew children was effected by the 
personal presence of Him whom we know as 
the Son of God. But the original expression 
here signifies simply, a son of the gods, or, as 
he appeared to the startled king, some divine, 
unearthly being, who had appeared for their 
deliverance. The Babylonish monarch knew 
nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ, or of the 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 101 

angel of the covenant ; but he supposed this 
wonderful being whom he saw walking with 
them, was more than human, and that it was by 
his power only that they were, or could be, de- 
livered. Hence, in verse 28, he says, " Blessed 
be the God of Shadrach, ileshach, and Abed- 
nego, who hath sent his etngel, and delivered 
his servants that trusted in him." It is not 
improbable that these men had informed the 
monarch who it was that had so wonderfully 
preserved them. We know that punishment by 
the furnace of fire was common among the 
Babylonians. But never before had a doomed 
victim escaped. Yet now "the fire forgot its 
power to burn, and the lambent flames played M 
harmlessly around them, only burning their 
bonds, but leaving "no smell of fire upon 
them." There can be no doubt that the in- 
strument of this deliverance was one of God's 
ministering angels, whose power was thus so 
glowingly displayed. What a glorious inter- 
position was this ! Not only does the angel 
walk unhurt in the fire, but those who walk 
with him are unharmed. No wonder that 
Nebuchadnezzar was filled with astonishment. 
No wonder that he praised the God of heaven 



102 



The Angels of God. 



as above all gods, saying, u There is no other 
god that can deliver after this sort!' 

The next instance referred to is that of the 
Prophet Daniel. Well known as it is, we vent- 
ure to refer to it again ; and, no doubt, it will 
continue to be repeated until the end of time. 
The history of Daniel is familiar to every 
Bible reader. His captivity, his education un- 
der the direction of the Babylonish monarch, 
his interpretation of dreams., his elevation to 
be the prime minister under Nebuchadnezzar; 
his retention of power during the interregnum 
while the throne was vacant on account of the 
monarch's insanity; his probable retirement for 
a season; his re-exaltation under Belshazzar; 
and his continued power under Darius, the 
Mede ; his wonderful prophecies ; and last, but 
not least, his deliverance from the den of lions, 
are matters as familiar as household words. 
That the being cast into the den of lions was 
a common mode of punishment among the 
Babylonians is evident from the remains of 
ancient sculptures found amid its ruins. One 
of the very few pieces of sculpture found at 
Babylon, represents a lion standing over the 
prostrate body of a man. An engraved gem, 



Are Tluy not all Ministering Spirits f 103 

also, represents a man combating with, or sub- 
duing two lions: and at Shus, (Susajnot far 
from the tomb of Daniel, a bass-relief has been 
found representing two lions, each with a paw 
on the head of a man half naked, with his 
hands bound behind him. * 

The only charge which the jealous courtiers 
of Darius could bring against Daniel was one 
founded on his fidelity to God. Narrowly 
they had watched his administration of public 
affairs ; zealously they had endeavored to find 
some fault with him in regard to them ; but 
all to no purpose. This was their last resort, 
and in this they were only too successful. 
Darius is caught in the trap so warily laid for 
him ; and does not discover his fearful mistake 
until it is too late for him to do anything for 
the delivery of his faithful and trusted servant. 
The door of the lions' den is opened, and Dan- 
iel is cast into it. But never was there wit- 
nessed a more wonderful scene. The lions 
stand gazing with wonder at him, or they are 
awed by the presence of the angel sent for his 
deliverance. That an angel was employed for 
this purpose is acknowledged by Daniel, when 

* Kitta, K Daily Bible Illustrations." 



104 The Angels of God. 

he replied to the inquiries of Darius concern- 
ing his safety. " My God hath sent his angel, 
and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they 
have not hurt me." What a night that must 
have been which Daniel spent with the lions 
and with the angel of the Lord ! No need had 
the prophet to fear : for the presence of the 
angel banished all fear, and made that night 
the most memorable of all his earthly his- 
tory. 

There is no one of us who could have de- 
sired that the Hebrew children should be cast 
into the fiery furnace, or that Daniel should 
have been cast into the lions' den ; but now 
that they have been there, and that the Lord, by 
his angels, has so wonderfully delivered them, 
we rejoice and give thanks to him for such 
amazing evidences of his presence and power. 
Who, among all the saints of God during the 
by-gone centuries, has not been made wiser 
and stronger, better fitted to endure trial and 
to overcome the world, by these instances of 
angelic ministrations ? All praise, and honor, 
and glory, to the God of Shadrach, Meshach 
and Abed-nego, and to the God of Daniel ! 

Among the catacombs of Rome no scenes 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 105 

are more frequently sculptured than those we 
have just been considering. "The persecuted 
saints, who dared to encounter death and dan- 
ger in their most dreadful forms rather than 
deny their faith, found great consolation in the 
remembrance of God's deliverance of his serv- 
ants in the days of old. With the blood- 
thirsty cry of the ribald plebs of Rome — ■ 
Christiani ad leones — still ringing in their ears, 
and, it may be, with the roar of the savage beasts 
of prey crashing on their shuddering nerves, they 
were sustained by the thought of the fidelity 
of those ancient worthies w T ho, for their integ- 
rity to God, braved the flames of the fiery fur- 
nace and the perils of the lions' den." * 

At the very dawn of the new dispensation 
w r e have furnished to us a beautiful illustra- 
tion of angelical ministration. The fires of the 
Pentecost were still burning brightly, and un- 
der the pressure and power of the baptism of 
the Spirit the apostles were diligently labor- 
ing, by day and by night, in the city of Jeru- 
salem. The grand success of the first sermon 
by Peter was being followed up by repeated 
.efforts. Not only so ; miraculous works fur- 

* Wi throw, "Catacombs of Rome," p. 296, et scq. 



106 The Angels of God. 

nished attestation and ocular demonstration 
of the authenticity of their mission and their 
work. The healing of the lame man by Peter 
and John had called the attention of the whole 
city of Jerusalem to the disciples of Jesus and 
their work, and had furnished an occasion for 
the apostles to utter, in the hearing of the 
people, another gospel sermon, and to charge 
the guilt of the death of Christ upon their 
rulers. While Peter and his fellow-apostles 
were yet speaking to the people, " the priests, 
and the captain of the temple, and the Saddu- 
cees, came upon them, being grieved that they 
taught the people, and preached through Jesus 
the resurrection from the dead." They were 
arrested on the spot and put into the hold, or 
prison, until the next day. And yet, notwith- 
standing all this opposition, many believed, 
and the disciples, in a few days, numbered five 
thousand. On the day after their arrest there 
was a grand assemblage of " rulers, and elders, 
and scribes, and Annas the high-priest, and 
Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as 
many as were of the kindred of the high-priest." 
When the apostles were set before them, they 
were asked by what power or by what name 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 107 

they had done this ? And here occurred 
another grand opportunity to preach the 
Gospel. The rulers were confounded, and 
all they could do was to threaten the apostles 
and let them go. This was their first taste 
of prison life. But it was not to be their last, 
by any means. Having returned to their 
company and received a fresh endowment of 
power, they resumed their work. Miraculous 
works were now multiplied. The sick were 
brought forth into the streets, and laid on beds 
and couches, that at the least the shadow of 
Peter passing by might be cast upon them. 
Other cities, round about, had heard the won- 
derful tidings, and had " brought their sick, and 
those which were vexed with unclean spirits, and 
they were healed every one/' This was too 
much : so the Sadducees, the high-priest, and 
they that were with them, " were filled with in- 
dignation.'' The apostles were again arrested, 
and this time put into the common prison. 
Just here is where the angelical interposition 
occurred, and the previous recital of facts 
seemed to be necessary to the proper under- 
standing of this deliverance. It was during 
the night following the day of their arrest and 



io8 The Angels of God, 

confinement, that the angel of the Lord 
opened their prison doors and brought them 
forth, and said, " Go, stand and speak in the 
temple to the people all the words of this' life." 
How wonderful was this deliverance ! How 
astonished were the keepers and the officers 
sent to bring them before the authorities 
when they found that their prisoners had es- 
caped ! The report which they gave adds 
very much to the interest of the narrative. 
They say, " The prison truly found we shut 
with all safety, and the keepers standing with- 
out before the doors : but when we had opened, 
we found no man within/' Great as was the 
astonishment of the Jewish hierarchy at this * 
report, it was intensified when one came and 
told them, " Behold, the men whom ye put in 
prison are standing in the temple, and teaching 
the people. " No wonder that " they doubted 
of them whereunto this would grow." This 
command of the angel to the apostles has been 
beautifully paraphrased as follows-. "As God has 
miraculously interposed for your deliverance, 
neither flee from the face of your enemies nor 
fear their utmost power. Go, stand in the tem- 
ple, as you did before you were apprehended 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 109 



by them, and, however offensive your doctrine 
of immortality and eternal life may be to 
those who deny the reality of a future exist- 
ence, speak to the people assembling there at 
the hour of sacrifice and worship all the words 
of this life which your risen Redeemer has 
brought to light by his glorious gospel." Hav- 
ing had occasion to refer to the deliverance of 
Peter from prison by the power of an angel, 
we omit a further notice of it here, although it 
adds another illustration and evidence of the 
guardianship and power of the angels of God. 

But we come now to consider the angelic 
interposition in behalf of St. Paul, in the perils 
of shipwreck which he endured. The ship in 
which he was being conveyed, as a prisoner, 
to Rome, was caught in the Adriatic sea by 
the tempestuous Euroclydon, and was threat- 
ened with being wrecked, and with the total 
loss of passengers, cargo, and crew. Driven 
along under bare poles, tossed by the tempest, 
with no light of sun, moon, or stars in many 
days: even after the tackling was cast overboard 
and the wheat unladen in the sea, all hope 
that they would be saved was taken away. 
In this terrible emergency, Paul, after long 



no 



The Angels of God. 



abstinence, stood forth in the midst of them 
and said, " Be of good cheer : for there shall be 
no loss of any man's life among you, but of 
the ship." And the ground of this confidence 
was this : " For there stood by me this night 
the angel of God, whose I am and whom I 
serve, saying, Fear not, Paul ; thou must be 
brought before Caesar : and, lo, God hath given 
thee all them that sail with thee." And he 
added, with a sublime and heroic faith, 
" Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer : for I be- 
lieve God, that it shall be even as it was told 
me." With this assurance, what to him was 
the raging of the wild tempest, or the rolling 
billows of the Adriatic, or the sunless, starless 
sea, or the quicksands which the captain and 
crew so much dreaded ? From the moment 
when the angel spoke to him all his fears 
were gone, and his heart rested with the most 
undisturbed repose upon the promise of his 
God. 

We have thus ranged through the divine 
word, gathering up the illustrations and evi- 
dences of angelic guardianship and ministra- 
tions. And although angel visits, so far as they 
have been visible and tangible, may seem to 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 1 1 1 

have been "few and far between," yet they have 
occurred in sufficient numbers of instances to 
warrant our full belief in the revealed fact, that, 
multitudinous as are their hosts, they are " all 
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for 
them who shall be heirs of salvation." Before 
closing this chapter let us notice, 

I. The fact of a7igelic ministration itself, is 
one of great interest and importance. Amid 
the difficulties, dangers, perils, and temptations 
which surround our way, we are made painful- 
ly conscious of our helplessness and weakness. 
We feel, ofttimes, the need of sympathy, of 
help, not merely from our fellow-creatures, but 
especially from those beings which are of great- 
er power and strength than we, or they, may 
possess. Of course, we all believe and know 
that God is the only absolute source of this 
strength and comfort and help which Ave need. 
We cordially believe that Jesus is our sympa- 
thizing Saviour and High-priest, who only can 
effectually aid us. But, as when our faith in 
God's presence and power is the strongest, and 
our trust in the Saviour as our Redeemer and 
High-priest is the sweetest and most confid- 
ing, and our reliance upon the almighty aid of 



112 The Angels of God. 

the Holy Spirit is the most complete, it does 
not make any the less welcome to us the human 
sympathies which our hearts so much crave; 
so these assurances do not make any the less 
welcome to us the comforting doctrine of the 
ministration and guardianship of the angels. 
We know that they are not omnipotent or 
omnipresent, but that they are sent forth by 
their Lord to give their ministrations to his 
people ; and we receive them, and recognize 
them, and enjoy them in this light. But the 
fact that there are millions of these celestial be- 
ings thronging this earth by day and night — 
that they are here to minister in a thousand 
ways to God's saints — that whatever may be 
their rank and order, their wisdom and power, 
all are employed according to the divine will — 
and that, though unseen by us, they are actu- 
ally present with us and always around us — is 
one of the most precious and inspiring upon 
which our minds can dwell. 

2. There can be no doubt that these angels 
are employed for our protection. We think that 
one of the sweetest utterances ever made in 
this world is the following: " The angel of the 
Lord encampeth round about them that fear hun, 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 113 

and delivereth them?' Psa. xxxiv, 7. It is very 
rich in meaning; for the verb run, signifies, to 
pitch a camp; and " the Greek verb ~apE\i$ak- 
Xg), occurring in the Septuagint as a translation 
of this, is one used by the Greek writers in 
general to express the disposition or arrange- 
ment of an army. From this it is evident 
that not only the angel of the Lord, but his 
accompanying hosts, are near to the dwelling 
of the righteous ; beheld onlv by their Maker 
and those who are with them, it is true, but 
invested with a merciful power to ward off our 
spiritual foes, to retard the child of God in his 
path until the overhanging ruin has fallen, or 
to hasten him along, as they did Lot and his 
family out of Sodom, that he may pass before 
it falls." * 

Then, too, we have that kindred passage in 
the Ninety-first Psalm, " Because thou hast 
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the 
Most High, thy habitation ; there shall no 
evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come 
nigh thy dwelling. For lie shall give his angels 
cliarge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest 
* Rawson on the Holy Angels, pp. 77, 78. 



114 The Angels of God, 

thou dash thy foot against a stone." Even 
the devil knew this promise ; but he took good 
care not to quote it as it is written. And how 
these promises have been fulfilled ! We have 
already seen how they protected, and guard- 
ed, and ministered unto Jacob and Lot, the 
Hebrew children and Daniel, Peter and Paul. 
And these are only a very few of the illustra- 
tions and instances of their protecting power. 
How safe is that dwelling and that person 
around which, or whom, the angel of the Lord 
encampeth ! No monarch, in the midst of his 
royal guards — no general, in the midst of his 
mighty army — ever dwelt, or rested, so safely as 
the child of God may do. Ten thousand perils 
and dangers are around us, part of which we 
see and know, but the greater part are unseen 
and unknown by us. There are dangers from 
the elements, from wicked men, and from evil 
spirits ; the air may be laden with noxious va- 
pors, and filled with disease ; and who can tell of 
these and countless other perils which surround 
our way? But in the midst of all and through 
all, God's angels come to guard and defend us. 
Sometimes, as we have seen, it is one angel, as 
in the cases of the Hebrew children, Daniel, 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 115 

Peter and Paul ; sometimes it is two, as in the 
case of Lot ; and sometimes, a host, as in the 
cases of Jacob and Elisha. Whatever guard is 
needed, God, our Father, always sends. And 
they are always on hand in time. No winds 
nor waves can delay them, or their horses and 
chariots of fire. No monarch, or commander, 
can hurry up his reserves so rapidly. No vic- 
torious general can so quickly bring up new 
forces to complete his triumphs. In one night 
the mountains are thronged with horses and 
chariots of fire around Dothan. And when 
they guard, what power can injure or harm? 
What power had the fire-storm over Lot and 
his family? What power had Esau and his 
four hundred men to harm Jacob, now that he 
was the prevailing Israel, and the camps of the 
angels were around him ? What power had 
the Syrian host to injure Elisha, or the fire to 
burn the Hebrew children, or the lions to in- 
jure Daniel, or the sea to engulf Paul, or the 
prison to hold Peter, when thus protected ? 

An inquiry may be raised at this point. If 
such is the guardianship which the saints of 
God enjoy, why are they so often visited w T ith 
sore trials, afflictions, calamities, persecutions, 



1 



Ii6 The Angels of God, 

and privations ? Why have their enemies been 
permitted to burn them at the stake, drown 
them in the sea, and endungeon them in the 
prison ? Why are they the victims of acci- 
dents, of robberies, and why are they some- 
times even murdered ? We cannot answer 
all the questionings which at times will arise 
in the mind of the afflicted, bereaved, perse- 
cuted, and tempted child of God : all that we 
can say is, that God is sometimes pleased to 
permit these evils for the good of his people 
and the glory of his name. There can be no 
doubt that he could, did he see that it would 
be for the best interests of his people, so bear 
them on angels' wings that they would never 
experience any of these evils or calamities. 
But we are never to forget that this is a world 
of discipline and trial, and that here the peo- 
ple of God are to be fitted and prepared for 
the higher ministries, perfections, and glories 
of the heavenly world. But even here and 
now, they " know that all tilings work together 
for good to them that love God." It is only 
victors who are crowned ; it is only those who 
endure to the end who are saved. It is only 
in battling with our enemies that victory is se- 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 117 

cured : it is only in enduring hardness, as g(3od 
soldiers of Jesus Christ, that we shall be reward- 
ed at the last : it is only by suffering with Christ 
that we shall enjoy the glorious and unending 
privilege of reigning with him on his throne. 
Twelve legions of angels awaited only the bid- 
ding of the Son of God to come to his rescue 
from the traitorous and murderous bands which 
had him in custody ; but he declined their serv- 
ices that he might fulfill the great purposes of 
his mission. So when he shrank from the cup 
which was given him to drink, and prayed that 
if it were possible it might pass from him, the 
Father did not answer to his thrice-repeated 
call. And there can be no doubt that the 
angels wait around the couch of the sufferer, 
and linger about the way of the afflicted, per- 
secuted, tried, and troubled one, ready to give 
instant relief or to crush their enemies into 
the dust ; but while they sympathize with the 
heirs of salvation, and would gladly deliver 
them, if this were the divine will, they are con- 
tent to minister to them in other ways, and to 
aid in preparing them for the home where they 
will be forever free from all these sorrows, 
trials, and disabilities. 



1 18 The Angels of God. 

3 . The angels com fort, encourage, and inspire the 
people of God. We are not always — indeed we 
are very seldom — conscious of the source 
whence these comforts come, and whence 
arises the inspiration, the holy courage, which 
is breathed into our souls in the times of trial, 
danger, and temptation. We shall know more 
of all this by and by. But we do certainly 
know that they have not only provided for, but 
spoken words of comfort to, God's people in 
all the ages past ; and we do not believe that 
the character of their offices and ministrations 
has changed, although they do not now ap- 
pear in human form, as they so frequently ap- 
peared in former periods. Did not the angel 
speak words of encouragement to Joshua; of 
inspiration to Gideon ; of instruction to Ma- 
noah and his wife; of comfort and love to Daniel, 
to Mary in the annunciation, to the affrighted 
shepherds, and to the women, in the early 
dawn, at the sepulcher of the risen Christ ? 
Did not angels give assurance of support to the 
apostles when they delivered them from prison, 
and to Paul in the Adriatic Sea ? Aye, more 
than all this, did not an angel come down from 
heaven to give strength to the fainting Son of 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits ? 119 

God ? And are we to suppose that when we 
are. battling w T ith our many foes, and often just 
ready to fall under their power, that the angel 
of the Lord does not breathe words of encour- 
agement and comfort into our souls ? Must 
we believe that when we are afflicted, perse- 
cuted, and tempted, their voice is not heard in 
our souls, bidding us to be of good cheer ? O, 
as we sail over life's tempestuous sea, and for 
many days and nights no sun or moon or stars 
appear, and yawning whirlpools of despair are 
around us, and dark and gloomy suggestions 
are poured into our souls by evil spirits, is 
there no good angel near to lift our head and 
cheer our heart ? " The disciple is not above 
his Master, nor the servant above his Lord ; " 
but the disciple and the servant are like their 
Master and Lord in many things. " He was 
tempted in all points like as we are/' Yes, but 
after his fierce temptation in the wilderness did 
not the angels come and minister unto him ? 
And when we are wearied after a long-contin- 
ued struggle with the world and sin and Satan, 
and we come forth from the conflict scarred 
. and faint and almost ready to die, will they 
not, do they not, come and minister unto us ? 



120 The Angels of God. 

Again, Jesus had his Gethsemane, and we 
have ours. A bitter cup is often handed us to 
drink. We see it approaching. We feel it 
near. We shrink from it. We cry out in our 
agony, " Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass from me/' and yet the draught is pressed 
to our lips, and we are compelled to drink it. 
It is sometimes when we see our worldly goods 
going away from us. It is sometimes when 
our good name is shadowed by the tongue of 
scandal, and our honor is laid in the dust. It 
is sometimes when an agony of suffering is 
upon our physical frame. And it is sometimes 
when nameless sorrows and trials are ours. 
More, perhaps, than all these, it is when we 
stand by the bedside of a beloved child and 
the death-angel is hovering near, and his dark 
shadow is slowly creeping over the brow and 
face, and our poor hearts are wrung with an- 
guish and grief unutterable. Or it is when a 
dear companion or parent is about to be torn 
away from our side. Then our souls are ex- 
ceedingly sorrowful, almost unto death, and 
we are just ready to faint under our burden. 
But we read that when Jesus was passing 
through the gloomy garden " there appeared 



Are They not all Ministering Spirits? 121 

an angel from heaven strengthening him." 
When, therefore, we pass through our Geth- 
semane, there will be, we cannot doubt, an 
angel sent from heaven to strengthen us, and 
we shall be able to drink the bitter cup. So 
Whittier beautifully sings in his poem called 
"The Angel of Patience:" 

" To heavy hearts, to mourning homes, 
God's meekest angel gently comes. 
No power has he to banish pain, 
Or give us back our lost again : 
And yet in tenderest love our dear 
And heavenly Father sends him here. 

4< There's quiet in that angel's glance ; 
There's rest in his still countenance ; 
He mocks no grief with idle cheer, 
Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear ; 
But ills and woes he may not cure, 
He kindly trains us to endure. 

" Angel of patience, sent to calm 
Our feverish brows with cooling balm ; 
To lay the storms of hope and fear, 
And reconcile life's smile and tear ; 
The throbs of wounded grief to still, 
And make our own our Father's will ! 

" O thou who mournest on thy way, 
With longings for the close of day, 
He walks with thee, that angel kind, 
And gently whispers, ' Be resigned ! 
Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell 
The dear Lord ordereth all things well.' " 



122 



The Angels of God. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE ANGEL OF THE COVENANT. 

E think that there can be little doubt 



* * in the mind of any careful reader of the 
Old Testament, that when the words " the an- 
gel of Jehovah," " the angel of God," " the 
messenger of Jehovah," are used, they indicate 
to us a manifestation of God himself. And 
while, in the foregoing pages, we have referred 
to some of these portions of Scripture as illus- 
trating and confirming the presence and min- 
istrations of angels, still we must regard that 
they have a higher signification than any of 
which we have yet spoken. In Gen. xviii, I, 
et seq., we read, " And the Lord appeared unto 
him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre : and 
he sat in the tent door in the heat of the 
day." And although it is said that there were 
three men, yet to the one Abraham particularly 
addresses himself, and he gives the promise to 
him and Sarah of a son. To him Abraham 
also addresses his importunate and prevalent 
orayer. There is, throughout, an evident dis- 




The Angel of the Covenant. 123 

tinction between him and the two angels 
which accompanied him. How Abraham rec- 
ognized him above the other two we do 
not know, but he certainly did. The same 
thing is observed when we read, at the close 
of the fervent, effectual prayer of the patriarch, 
that "the Lord went his way, as soon as he 
had left communing with Abraham.'' Gen. 
xviii, 33. And then read, in chapter xix, I, 
" There came two angels to Sodom at even ; " 
and in verse 13, " The Lord hath sent us to 
destroy" the place. These two are only rec- 
ognized as angels in the narrative. In Gen. 
xvi, 7, we read of the angel of the Lord find- 
ing Hagar ; but when her eyes were opened 
to see what would be the future of the child 
she was to bear, " she called the name of the 
Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest 
me." Chap, xvi, 13. So when Abraham was 
called to offer up his son Isaac, it is said, " The 
angel of the Lord called unto him out of 
heaven," and he recognized that it was God 
himself w 7 ho was speaking to him ; for he 
" called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh." 
Gen. xxii, 11, 14. When Moses had a vision 
of the angel of the Lord in the burning bush, 



124 The Angels of God. 

amid the dreary solitudes of Horeb, it is said, 
(Exod. iii, 2,) that " the Angel of the Lord 
appeared unto him." But in the sixth verse 
the wondrous Being who had thus appeared to 
him declares that he is " the God of Abraham, 
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob and 
in the fourteenth verse he proclaims his awful 
name, " I AM THAT I AM." The same fact is 
made known to us in the appearance to Joshua 
at Gilgal, and to Jacob at Penuel. So we cannot 
doubt that this was Jehovah-Jesus. From these, 
and other instances which might be referred to, 
it has been said, " It is hardly to be doubted that 
these passages refer to the same kind of mani- 
festation of the divine Presence. This being 
the case — since we know that ' no man hath 
seen God [the Father] at any time ; ' and that 
'the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom 
of the Father, he hath declared him 9 — the in- 
evitable inference is, that by the angel of the 
Lord in such passages is meant He who is from 
the beginning, the Word ; that is, the Mam- 
fester, or the Revealer of God. These appear- 
ances are evidently foreshadowings of the in- 
carnation. By these God the Son manifested 
himself from time to time in that human na- 



The Angel of the Covenant. 125 

ture which he united to the Godhead forever 
in the Virgin's womb." * 

In like manner Mr. Watson concludes, after 
a full consideration of the passages referred to, 
"The Jews held this Word, or Angel of the 
Lord, to be the future Messiah, as appears 
from the writings of their elder rabbins. So 
that he appears as the Jehovah of all the three 
dispensations, and yet is invariably described 
as a separate person from the unseen Jehovah 
who sends him. He was, then, the Word to 
be made flesh, and to dwell for a time among 
us, to open the way to God by his sacrifice, 
and to rescue the race, whose nature he should 
assume, from sin and death. This he has now 
actually effected ; and the Patriarchal, Mosaic, 
and Christian religions are thus founded upon 
the same great principles — the fall and misery 
of mankind, and their deliverance by a divine 
Redeemer." And yet again he says : " No 
name is given to the angel Jehovah which 
is not given to Jehovah-Jesus ; no attribute 
is ascribed to the one which is not ascribed 
to the other ; the worship which was paid 
to the one by the patriarchs and prophets, 

* M'Clintock and Strong, " Cyclopaedia," in loco. 



1 26 The Angels of God. 

was paid to the other by evangelists and 
apostles ; and the Scriptures declare them to 
be the same august person, the Image of the 
Invisible, whom no man can see and live — the 
Redeeming Angel, the Redeeming Kinsman, and 
the Redeeming God."* Dr. Hodge also says: 
" As there is more than one person in the 
Godhead, we find at once the distinction be- 
tween Jehovah as the Messenger, a Mediator, 
and Jehovah as he who sends ; between the Fa- 
ther and the Son as co-equal, co-eternal per- 
sons. . . .We find throughout the Old Testa- 
ment constant mention made of a person dis- 
tinct from Jehovah, as a person, to whom 
nevertheless the titles, attributes and works 
of Jehovah are ascribed. In Gen. xxxii, 24-32, 
Jacob is said to have wrestled with an angel, 
who blessed him, and in seeing whom Jacob 
said: 'I have seen God face to face/ Hosea 
says : ' Jacob had power over the angel, and 
prevailed ; he wept and made supplication unto 
him ; he found him in Bethel, and there he 
spake with us, even Jehovah God of hosts: 
Jehovah is his memorial/ The angel was the 
Lord God of Hosts." f This is in accordance 
* Watson's " Institutes/' f Hodge, vol. i, pp. 485-7. 



The Angel of the Covenant. 127 

with the unanimous opinion of all antiquity. 
All the Church fathers — Theophilus of Anti- 
och, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem, 
and others — confirm this view. 

How wonderful is the condescension which 
he thus manifested ! Man could not see God 
and live. But God sends his Son, in angelic and 
human forms, and men behold him and live. 
When the great fact was made known to some 
of the Old Testament saints, that God had act- 
ually appeared to them, they feared lest they 
might die. But he did not appear to destroy 
men, but to save them. Does not this indi- 
cate that this world was made, and continues 
to exist, in view of redemption ? 

Hugh Miller says : " And I can as little 
regard the present scene of things as an ulti- 
mate consequence of w T hat man had willed 
or wrought, as even any of the pre-Adamic 
ages. It is simply one scene in a foreor- 
dained series ; a scene intermediate in place 
between the age of the irresponsible mammal 
and of glorified man ; and to provide for the 
upward passage to the ultimate state, we know 
that in reference to the purposes of the Eter- 
nal, he through whom the work of restoration 



t 2 8 The A ngels of God. 

has been effected is, in reality, what he is des- 
ignated in the remarkable text, ' The Lamb 
slain from the foundation of the world.' First, 
in the course of things, man in the image of 
God, and next, in meet sequence, God in the 
form of man, have been equally from all eter- 
nity pre-determined actors in the same great 
scheme." * 

But while the word angel, or messenger, is 
applied to the Son of God, it is only to desig- 
nate his office and work, and not his nature. 
He is the Creator and Lord of angels, as we 
have already seen, and his eternal inheritance 
is to bear a more exalted name than theirs. 
The whole argument in the first chapter of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews is to show his infinite 
superiority to them. The Father never said to 
any angel, or archangel, seraphim or cherubim, 
"Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten 
thee ; " and again, " I will be to him a Father, 
and he shall be to me a Son." His angels, " He 
maketh spirits ; and his ministers a flaj/>c JL 
fire ; " but he saith to the Son, " Thy throne, 
O God, is for ever and ever ; a scepter of right- 
eousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou 

* " The Testimony of the Rocks," p. 262. 



The Angel of the Covenant. 129 

hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity ; 
therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fel- 
lows." And, as the crowning evidence of his 
supremacy, it is said, "When he bringeth in 
the First-begotten into the world, he saith, 
And let all the angels of God zv or ship him." 

The Book of Revelation presents before us 
the grand and glorious scene of all the angels 
worshiping him. Day and night, for ever and 
ever, they ascribe to him the song, " Worthy 
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing." While every 
creature " which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
the sea, and all that are in them, exclaim, 
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be 
unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Hence 
w r e see that, while in his infinite pity and con- 
descension he appeared as a man to patriarchs 
and prophets, and then in the form of a servant 
to the eye of the world for thirty-three years, 
he is truly Lord over all, and worshiped and 

adored by all the heavenly hosts. 
9 



" All my heart this night rejoices 

As I hear, far and near, sweetest angel voices: 

* Christ is born! ' Their choirs are singing, 

Till the air, every-where, now with joy is ringing. 

For it dawns, the promised morrow 

Of His birth, who our earth rescues from her sorrow. 

God, to wear our form, descendeth ; 

Of his grace, to our race, here his Son he lendeth." 

— Paul Gerhardt. 

" Break forth in joy, angelic bands! 
Crown ye the King that 'midst you stands, 
To whom the heavenly gate expands! 
Sing victory, angel-guards that wait! 
Lift up, lift up the eternal gate, 
And let the King come in with state! 
And, as ye meet him on the way, 
The mighty triumph greet and say, 
Hail, Jesu! glorious Prince, to-day! 

Bow before his name eternal! 

Things celestial and terrestrial, 

And infernal! " 

— Old Latin Hymn % 
Translated by Dr. J. M. Neale. 



4 

The Angels and Christ. 



131 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ANGELS AND CHRIST. 

IT has been thought by many, that when 
man had sinned, and lost the favor of his 
God, the angels, in terror and alarm, as well 
as in loathing and celestial anger, fled from the 
scene of sin and ruin to their own abodes of 
infinite purity and bliss. We cannot doubt 
that while man was in paradise, a sinless being, 
he enjoyed the frequent visits of, and uninter- 
rupted intercourse with, the angels. There 
was nothing to prevent this. They saw in 
him a child of God, who, although a " little 
lower " than themselves in the scale of being 
and intelligence, was, nevertheless, their broth- 
er, created in the image of God, and heir of 
the world. In such conditions and relations 
the most free and familiar intercourse must 
have existed between them. But when man 
fell, all was changed ; and when God was angry 
w T ith the rebellious pair, the angels sympathized 
with his displeasure, and discontinued their 
visitations and ministrations. 



132 The Angels of God, 

Soon, however, before their wondering eyes 
was brought to view the vast remedial scheme 
by which the sinner may be redeemed and the 
fallen may be restored. When Satan and his 
angels fell no scheme for their redemption or 
restoration was made known to them. How 
could they know that any would be devised 
for fallen man ? How long it was before this 
plan was made known to the angels we cannot 
tell. It may have been communicated to them 
at the same time that it was revealed to the 
guilty pair. They then learned of the design 
of God, in his everlasting, all-embracing love, 
to give his Son for the salvation of the race. 
They heard the primal promise, that through 
" the seed of the woman " the " serpent's head 99 
was to be bruised. How natural it was for 
them to think and feel, " If God so loves the 
race — if the Son of God be so interested in 
man, fallen and sinful although he is — certain- 
ly we also should be interested in him and 
help to save him." They began at once to see 
how that things in the heavens, and things 
on the earth, were to be reconciled by and 
through Christ, and harmony once more to 
be restored. 



The Angels and Christ, 



133 



Again, at the divine command, they recom- 
menced their visitations to man, not now as 
an unfallen being, but as an " heir of sal- 
vation,'' through the promised Christ. With 
what eager gaze must they have watched every 
step and stage in the progress of that redemp- 
tive work, bending, with steady gaze, their 
vast powers of celestial vision, striving to 
" look into these things." No wonder that in 
the divine plan for the erection of the mercy- 
seat, the cherubim were represented with out- 
stretched wings, fixing their earnest look upon 
the mysteries which were merely symbol- 
ized there ; and thus indicating to us their 
unceasing interest in the plan of human re- 
demption. It was, also, very early revealed to 
the Patriarch Jacob, how that the ministries 
of angels were only enjoyed by him, and by a 
redeemed race, through Christ. The angels of 
God now only ascend and descend upon the 
ladder. Before, they came directly to man ; 
now they come only through Christ. " The 
Scriptures teach, that it is by and through 
the mediation of Christ that the fellowship of 
the human race with other orders of beings 
was to be restored, and men and angels were 



134 The A ngels of God, 

to be brought into association. Indeed, 
we know ourselves indebted to the Mediator 
for every blessing ; if, therefore, we regard the 
angels as the ' ministers of God, which do his 
pleasure/ and through whose instrumentality 
he carries on designs, whether of providence 
or of grace, we must feel sure that we owe it 
exclusively to Christ that these glorious creat- 
ures are busied with promoting our welfare. 
And if, then, the continued descent and ascent 
of the angels mark, as we suppose it must, 
their coming down on commissions in which 
men have interest, and their returning to re- 
ceive fresh instructions, there is peculiar fitness 
in the representation of their ascending and 
descending by a ladder, which is figurative of 
Christ ; it is a direct result of Christ's media- 
tion, that angels are ' ministering spirits sent 
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs 
of salvation ; ' and if, then, a ladder reaching 
from earth to heaven be a just emblem of 
the Saviour, it is in the nicest keeping with 
this emblem, that, up and down the ladder, 
should be rapidly passing the cherubim and 
seraphim." * 

* Melvill's Sermons, p. 287, 



The Angels and Christ. 135 

We have already seen how frequent were 
the appearances of angels during all the work 
of preparation for the coming of Christ ; we 
are now to behold them at every point in the 
visible processes of redemption ; coming on 
joyful wing, joining in loudest, sweetest songs, 
making glad annunciations, heralding his ap- 
pearance, strengthening and comforting him in 
his trials, proclaiming his resurrection, and, 
finally, in countless numbers, escorting him to 
his eternal home. Over each of these scenes, 
in which the angels took so prominent a part, 
Ave may well linger again, with delight and joy. 

We begin with- — 

1. The Annunciation made bv the angel 
Gabriel. It is well to consider here, that ev- 
ery thing in this annunciation of the Saviour's 
birth is said in the most careful and specific 
manner. The time, the place, the name of the 
angel, the name of the Virgin, of the coming 
Deliverer, and of his wonderful mission. 
Bishop Hall well says, " The Spirit of God was 
never so accurate in any description as that 
which concerns the incarnation of God. It 
was fit no circumstance should be omitted in 
that story whereon the faith and salvation of 



136 The Angels of God. 

the world dependeth. We cannot so much as 
doubt of the truth, and be saved. Not the 
number of the month nor the name of the 
angel is concealed. Every particle imports 
not more certainty than excellence. The mes- 
senger is an angel. A man was too mean to 
carry the news of the conception of God. 
Never any business was conceived in heaven 
that did so much concern the earth, as the con- 
ception of the God of heaven in the womb of 
earth. No less than an archangel was worthy to 
bear the tidings ; and never an angel received 
a greater honor than of this embassage. " 

How beautiful and graceful was his saluta- 
tion to the meek and modest Virgin ! " Hail, 
thou that art highly favored ! the Lord is with 
thee; blessed art thou among women!" No 
wonder that at first she was troubled and per- 
plexed by that form of address, to such a 
humble person as she felt and knew herself to 
be ; and that she cast in her mind •• what man- 
ner of salutation this should be." Doubtless, 
her beautiful face and brow were crimsoned 
with modest blushes, and her heart beat quick 
with sudden and various emotions. She may 
have asked herself, " What does he mean?" 



The Angels and Christ. 137 

"How am I highly favored of the Lord?" 
"How am I, only a Jewish peasant girl, 
blessed among women ? " The angel, behold- 
ing her confusion and perplexity, came to her 
rescue, and said, " Fear not, Mary : for thou 
hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou 
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a 
son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He 
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of 
the Highest ; and the Lord God shall give 
unto him the throne of his father David : and 
he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever ; 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end." 
Luke i, 31-33. 

Her perplexity was now even greater than 
before, and she inquires, " How shall this be, 
seeing I know not a man ? " It was then that 
the angel revealed to her the great plan of re- 
demption, the miraculousness of the concep- 
tion, and the sinlessness of the being to whom 
she was to give birth. Ver. 35-37. We can- 
not but admire the grace, the modesty, and 
the submissiveness of the Virgin in her reply 
to all this. " Behold the handmaid % of the 
Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word." 
But this is not all the story. There was one 



138 T*he Angels of God. 

true heart which had loved her deeply, one 
noble man to whom she was espoused. He, 
certainly, had the deepest interest in this mat- 
ter. He must be made to understand the 
wonderful design. Therefore to hush his dis- 
quietude and calm his fears, as well as to pre- 
serve in his estimation the honor of his be- 
loved and espoused wife, an angel — was it 
Gabriel ? — was sent to make an announce- 
ment to him in a dream, similar to that 
which had been made to Mary : — " Joseph, 
thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee 
Mary thy wife : for that which is conceived in 
her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring 
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: 
for he shall save his people from their sins. ,f 
Wonderful, blessed utterance, this ! over which 
the Church of God has lingered with rapturous 
delight for ages past, and which will furnish 
the theme of their delightful meditation not 
only through time, but, also, through eternity. 

2. Angels announce his birth. Jesus, the 
promised Messiah, long looked for, long fore- 
told, is born, born in a manger, born in Beth- 
lehem. The angels knew it. Heaven was full 
of the rapturous theme and the rapturous joy. 



The Angels and Christ. 139 

It could not contain it longer: it was not 
meant that it should. Christ was born not 
merely nor simply for the delight and joy of 
the angels ; but especially for the redemption of 
man. And man, the interested party, must 
hear the blessed tidings. But who shall bear 
them? And to whom shall they be borne? 
We know not who the honored angel was. 
His name is not recorded in our gospels. We 
shall never know who he was until we reach 
our heavenly home. Then we shall know him, 
and thank him for bringing the " glad tidings." 
No doubt, however, he was high among the 
ranks and orders of the heavenly hierarchies. 
For, when he appears, the glory of the Lord 
has so enswathed him, that it shines all around 
the shepherds, and bathes the plains where they 
pasture their flocks with its rosy light, its ce- 
lestial radiance. No wonder that the shep- 
herds were " sore afraid " at this sudden and 
glorious appearance : for they knew not 
whether he was a messenger of mercy, or a 
messenger of wrath. They knew that in both 
these ways angels had appeared in the former 
times. Quickly, however, their fears were 
quieted by the assuring voice of the angel, 



140 The Angels of God, 

" Fear not : for behold I bring you good tid- 
ings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 
For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." 

But one angel is not enough. " Suddenly 
there was with the angel a multitude o the 
heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory 
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good-will toward men." No doubt these angel- 
chimes still linger above this world of ours. 
Above the din and noise, the strife and con- 
fusion, would we but pause and listen, they 
are still ringing out clear and full, giving, as 
of old, the promise of the complete redemp- 
tion of our humanity and of the eternal reign 
of Christ. 

" Still through the cloven skies they come 

"With peaceful wings unfurled, 
And still their heavenly music floats 

O'er all the weary world ; 
Above its sad and lowly plains 

They bend on hovering wing, 
And ever o'er its Babel sounds 

The blessed angels sing. 

11 But with the woes of sin and strife 

The world has suffered long ; 
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled 

Two thousand years of wrong , 



The Angels and Christ. 



141 



And man, at war with man, hears not 
The love song which they bring : 

O hush the noise, ye men of strife, 
And hear the angels sing ! 

"And ye, beneath life's crushing load, 

Whose forms are bending low, 
Who toil along the climbing way 

With painful steps and slow, 
Look now ! for glad and golden hours 

Come swiftly on the wing : 
O rest beside the weary road, 

And hear the angels sing ! " 

The question sometimes arises, " Of whom 
was that heavenly host composed ? " Were 
they all angels and archangels, seraphim and 
cherubim ? Or, were there not among them 
patriarchs and prophets, and priests and kings 
— saints of all the previous ages to whom the 
promise of the redemption had been made, 
and who had now come to rejoice in its fulfill- 
ment ? We cannot tell : we dare not say. 
And yet, we think it highly probable that they 
were amid that glorious host on that bright 
and blessed morning. We shall know all about 
this by and by. Meanwhile, we rejoice that 
the Saviour is born. Immanuel, God with us, 
has appeared to dwell with man ! He has be- 
come bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. 



142 The Angels of God. 

He has softened the overpowering glory of the 
Godhead to human gaze, by veiling it in the 
clouds of human flesh. We see God — and live. 

No wonder, then, that the angel-songs filled 
heaven and earth, and rang through the uni- 
verse. It was the only actual incarnation of 
God which had ever been made, and, in the 
very nature of the case, to all eternity there 
can be no other. This mystery we do not un- 
derstand. We would not even attempt an ex- 
planation of it. We simply believe it, and won- 
der and adore. We join the angelic song, re- 
peating joyfully its chorus, and striving to re- 
echo its strains. We turn now to a widely 
different scene, and consider — 

3. The angels ministering to Christ after his 
temptation in the wilderness. It does not come 
within the scope of this volume to enter into 
a discussion of the many collateral questions 
arising in connection with Christ's temptation. 
They would furnish material for a lengthened 
dissertation, if not for a large volume. The 
field is a very inviting one ; but we must ad- 
here to our original plan. We can only say, 
that the place where this temptation occurred, 
or, at least, where it began, may have been 



The Angels and Christ. 143 

either the Quarantania, or the Arabian Desert 
of Sinai. The Tempter, as many think, appeared 
in a human form, although others hold that it 
was as a spirit that he was permitted to exert his 
power over the Son of God. The time when it 
occurred was immediately subsequent to his 
baptism, when his human consciousness, prob- 
ably, first awoke to the fact that he was the Son 
of God, in view of the Spirit descending upon 
him, and the voice of the Father acknowledg- 
ing him as his Son. The temptation itself was 
threefold — to distrust, presumptuous confidence, 
and unholy ambition. The struggle was, prob- 
ably, long and fierce. And it came upon him 
when he was weakened and enfeebled by his 
forty days' fast. Yet he overcame. 

He was thus tempted that he might show 
to his people in the future ages of his Church 
that he had been tempted in all points like as 
they are ; but that he had overcome. And 
that as he had overcome, so they might gain the 
victory over Satan and all the powers of dark- 
ness. What now particularly interests us, 
however, is, that when the struggle was over, 
and the wearied, weakened, fainting Son of God 
had victoriously driven his adversary from the 



144 The Angels of God. 

field, discomfited him, bruised his head, and 
given the signal of victor}" to all his hosts 
who should be hereafter tempted by his power, 
" the angels came and ministered unto him.'' 
Haw they ministered, and what they ministered, 
we know not ; but the fact that they did thus 
minister we are most clearly informed of. It 
has generally been supposed that they minis- 
tered food unto him, as they had done to Eli- 
jah in the desert. How sweet, how refreshing, 
how strength-inspiring was that food ! Elijah 
had gone for forty days in the strength of the 
food provided for him. Now the Son of God 
has prepared for him "a table in the presence 
of his enemies ; " and now he eats angels' 
food. These celestial beings had, doubtless, 
watched his struggles with intensest interest. 
They knew, better than we can know, the pow- 
ers of the lost archangel, the subtlety of the 
" : father of lies and when the conflict was over, 
and the mightiest energies of the arch-fiend had 
been baffled and counterworked, they filled ah 
heaven with their shouts of victory and tri- 
umph. " Now is come salvation, and strength, 
and the kingdom of our God, and the power 
of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren 



The Angels and Christ. 



145 



is cast down, which accused them before our 
God day and night." Rev. xii, 10. 

O what delightful refreshings come to the 
people of God after their periods of conflict 
and strife are, for the time, overpast ! O what 
songs of joy and triumph burst from their lips 
when they have been made u more than con- 
querors through him that loved " them! And 
with what renewed strength and vigor have 
they pursued their way to the heavenly hills, 
encouraged to win fresh victories, and to gain 
the conqueror's crown at last ! 

What further concerns us in this connec- 
tion is, the knowledge of the sympathy which 
our divine Lord has with us and for us, 
in all our struggles. The precious thought 
that He knows all about it, that he has passed 
through the strife before us, and that he over- 
came, has nerved the faltering arm of many a 
saint of God. 

11 He knows what sore temptations mean, 
For He hath felt the same." 

And, when heated in the strife, perhaps be- 
ginning to think that we must yield, unless 
help come speedily, w T e have cried out as in the 

Litany — 
10 



146 The Angels of God, 

"By thy days of sore distress, 
In the savage wilderness; 
By the dread, mysterious hour, 
Of the insulting tempter's power ; 
Turn, O turn a favoring eye, 
Hear our solemn litany ! " 

We now approach, solemnly and reverently, 
the Garden of Gethsemane, The scene pre- 
sented to us by the evangelist surpasses all 
power of description. The last supper was 
over. The farewell words, burdened with mes- 
sages of love, of hope, of peace and joy to his 
disciples, had been spoken. He had entered 
with them this garden to which he had often 
resorted before. And now, withdrawing from 
them " about a stone's cast," Jesus prostrated 
himself upon the cold, damp ground, wet with 
the night dews, and prayed, " Father, if thou 
be willing, remove this cup from me ; never- 
theless, not my will, but thine, be done!" 
Thrice was that prayer repeated, but no an- 
swer of deliverance came. It was then, when 
the great burden of a world's guilt was pressing 
upon his heart, when he was "treading the wine- 
press alone, and of the people there was none 
with him " — while fainting under his grief and 
sorrow — that an " angel appeared unto him from 



The Angels and Christ. 147 

heaven, strengthening him!' We know not 
what the angel said, or what he did ; but we 
do know that he strengthened the humanity 
of Jesus to bear this burden of a world's guilt, 
and to drink this cup of suffering and of sorrow. 
There is large room here for our imagination 
and fancy to play. Very many artists have 
endeavored to convey their ideals to us upon 
the canvas. We have been led to view him 
kneeling on the ground. His eyes uplifted to 
Heaven for help, the great drops of sweat, 
discolored with blood, oozing from every part 
of his body ; and then, an angel form by him, 
throwing his stalwart arm around him, and 
speaking words of courage and strength to 
him. We have sometimes imagined that we 
could hear him say, " Drink this cup, Son of 
God ; drink it for the salvation of the world ! " 

One thing we know positively, that it was 
for " the joy that was set before him that he en- 
dured the cross, despising the shame." After 
this he resignedly and submissively takes the 
cup and drinks it, even to its dregs. True, the 
agony of his soul increases ; but his strength 
is sufficient to endure it. %l Being in an agony 
he prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was 



148 The Angels of God. 

as it were great drops of blood falling down 
to the ground." It was the agony, the exceed- 
ing sorrowfulness of his soul, even unto death, 
that produced the blood-colored sweat. But 
did we ever pause to think, how calmly, after 
the garden agony was over, he met the 
traitor-headed band ? how " he was led like 
a lamb to the slaughter ; and like a sheep 
dumb before her shearers, so he opened not 
his mouth ?" 

Henry well remarks on this scene : " It was 
an instance of the deep humiliation of our 
Lord Jesus, that he needed the assistance of an 
angel, and would admit it. The influence of 
the divine nature withdrew for the present ; 
and then, as to his human nature, he was for 
awhile lower than the angels, and was capable 
of receiving help from them. The angels min- 
istered to the Lord Jesus in his sufferings. He 
could have had legions of them to rescue him ; 
nay, this one could have done it ; could have 
chased and conquered the whole band of men 
that came to him : and the very visit which the 
angel made to him now in his grief, when his 
enemies were awake and his friends were 
asleep, was such a seasonable token of the di- 



The Angels and Christ. 149 

vine favor as would be a very great strength- 
ening to him. Yet this was not all. He prob- 
ably said something to him to strengthen him ; 
put him in mind that his sufferings were in or- 
der to his Father's glory, to his own glory, and 
to the salvation of those who were given him, 
representing 6 the joy set before him;' with 
these and the like suggestions, he encouraged 
him to go on cheerfully ; and what is comfort- 
ing, is strengthening. Perhaps he did some- 
thing to strengthen him. Wiped away his 
sweat and tears, perhaps ministered some cor- 
dial to him, as after the temptation ; or, it may 
be, took him by the arm, and helped him off 
the ground, or bore him up when he was ready 
to faint away ; and in these services of the an- 
gel the Holy Spirit was putting strength into 
him, for so the word signifies/' 

The scenes of the garden can never be for- 
gotten ; and the fact of the angel's presence is 
inseparably associated with those scenes. It 
is to Gethsemane we look in our darkest hours. 
It is from the sufferings of the Saviour there, 
and the strength imparted to him, that we 
learn to suffer and grow strong ; not by any 
inherent strength in ourselves, but by the help 



150 The Angels of God. 

which the Lord sends us by his angels. Well 
may we then say : 

" Go to dark Gethsemane, 
Ye that feel the tempters power ; 

Your Redeemer's conflict see, 

Watch with him one bitter hour ; 

Turn not from his griefs away, 

Learn of Jesus Christ to pray." 

— Montgomery. 

And, 

"O generous love ! that he, who smote 

In Man for man the foe, 
The double agony in Man 

For man should undergo ; 

11 And in the garden secretly, 

And on the cross on high, 
Should teach his brethren, and inspire 

To suffer and to die." 

— J. H. Newman. 

But the agony of the garden and the dtuth 
of the cross are now past, and we come to be- 
hold more joyous scenes, and to witness the 
grandest triumphs of our Lord, in which the 
angels are permitted to take part — namely, that 
of his resurrection, and that of his ascension 
into heaven. And, first, let us consider the 
part which the angels took in, 

I. The resurrection of our Lord. The period 
for the foretold resurrection had now arrived. 
For parts of two days, and the whole of one, 



The Angels and Christ. 151 

he had lain in the sepulcher. That precious 
body, marked by the sweat of blood, torn by 
the nails, pierced by the spear, and marred by 
the crown of thorns, had quietly slept in the 
rocky tomb of Joseph. But at length the 
resurrection morn had dawned upon the 
world, and the mighty Jesus gave to it an 
illustration and a demonstration of a resur- 
rection from the dead which .was to confirm 
his claims to the divine Sonship, and declare 
him to be " the Son of God with power, accord- 
ing to the spirit of holiness. ,, With the events 
preceding, accompanying, and following the 
resurrection of Christ all are familiar. The 
earthquake ; the angel descending from heav- 
en, rolling back the stone, and sitting upon it ; 
the brightness and glory of his countenance, 
the luster of his raiment, the youthfulness 
of his face and form, the terror which his 
presence and glory inspired, causing even Ro- 
man veterans to fall to the ground as dead 
men, and the words of cheer which he 
spoke to the women, we are all familiar with, 
having heard of these things from our earliest 
days. It has been well said, " Angelical be- 
ings, by their dazzling brightness, overcame 



152 The Angels of God, 

the strongest hearts of military men. Mar- 
tial courage, which could brave danger and 
death in every form, fails in their presence." 
Of this angel of the Lord it is said, " His 
countenance was like lightning, and his rai- 
ment white as snow : and for fear of him the 
keepers did shake and became as dead men." 
" Lightning dressed in snow is the best expres- 
sion which human language can furnish, to 
describe the appearance of an inhabitant of 
heaven. Manoah, Daniel, and other holy men 
of God, have been overwhelmed by the splen- 
dor of angels. We cannot wonder, then, that 
heathens near a sepulcher, while they were 
fainting with terror from the earthquake, 
should tremble at the sight of an angel, whose 
raiment was dazzling white like lightning. 
All considerations of military duty and respon- 
sibility vanished from their minds, at the 
celestial vision ; and the prostrate condi- 
tion of those dreaded Roman warriors illus- 
trates the words of the psalmist : ' The stout- 
hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep : 
and none of the men of might have found 
their hands.' " * The accounts given by the 

* Timpson ; " Angels of God," p. 430. 



The Angels and Christ. 153 

evangelists vary somewhat from each other ; but 
it is only from their different stand-points, and 
at the different periods to which they refer. 
For instance, Mark says that there was "one 
angel, sitting on the right side of the sepul- 
cher, clothed in along white garment." Luke 
speaks of two standing by the affrighted wom- 
en, in " shining garments." John says that Ma- 
ry Magdalene saw, as she looked into the sep- 
ulcher, two angels in white, sittings the one at 
the head, and the other at the feet, where the 
body of Jesus had lain." These accounts all- 
agree in the following particulars : that these 
were angelical appearances ; that an angel rolled 
away the stone ; that the angels announced the 
fact of Christ's resurrection ; that they endeav- 
ored to comfort the women ; and that they gave 
to them important directions. That sometimes 
only one angel is spoken of, and at others two^ 
is nothing against the gospel narrative ; for, 
doubtless, there were multitudes there, each 
anxious to have some part in the glorious 
event, while only a few were permitted to 
make themselves visible to the disciples. The 
apostles themselves were not permitted to see 
even one angel. This honor was reserved for 



154 The Angels of God. 

the faithful women, who were " last at the cross 
and earliest at the tomb." 

This resurrection of Christ must have been 
witnessed with rapturous joy by the angels. 
More than twelve legions of them had lingered 
near when he was arrested and arraigned ; but 
were not allowed to interfere. Now, how T ever, 
the scene is changed. Their Lord is risen. 
Sin, the world, death, and hell are conquered. 
Now they can come and exult in the wondrous 
triumph, and take some part in the scenes 
connected with it. Vain to them were the 
guard, the stone, the seal ; vain was the pow- 
er of death and the grave to their conquering 
Lord. He rises ! and his resurrection fills 
heaven and earth with gladness and joy. 

u The shining angels cry, ' Away 

With grief ; no spices bring ; 
Not tears, but songs, this joyful day 

Should greet the rising King ! ' 

* * * * * £ 

" Victor o'er death and hell, 
Cherubic legions swell 

The radiant train : 
Praises all heaven inspire ; 
Each angel sweeps his lyre, 
And claps his wings of fire, 

Thou Lamb once slain!" 



The Angels and Christ. 155 

We now come to behold the angels at the 
ascension of our Lord into heaven. Forty days 
had passed since he arose. The time had 
come for him " to ascend up where he was be- 
fore " his incarnation. Immense preparations 
had been made for his formal entrance into 
his eternal home, and his inauguration as the 
High-priest and King of the Universe. On 
the morning of that bright day " he led his 
disciples out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted 
up his hands, and blessed them. And it came 
to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted 
from them and carried up into heaven. " An- 
other, and a more extended account, by the 
same author — at once evangelist and historian, 
— says that, after he had given to his disciples 
the promise of the Spirit, to empower them to 
be witnesses, both of his death and resurrec- 
tion to the uttermost part of the earth, as well 
as in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, " While 
they beheld, he was taken up ; and a cloud 
received him out of their sight." Very natu- 
rally their eyes followed him intently, as they 
saw him, contrary to the law of gravitation, 
rising up from the earth and ascending toward 
heaven. It was while they were thus stead- 



156 The A ngeh 0 f God. 

fastly looking toward heaven, after the vanish- 
ing form of their Lord, that " two men stood 
by them in white apparel : which also said, Ye 
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." 
Who were these men in white apparel? To 
our mind they were angels who had tarried 
behind the vast cavalcade of cherubic legions 
who were escorting the risen Lord into heaven. 
But what was that cloud which had received 
him out of their sight ? The sacred writers do 
not inform us whether it was a " bright cloud," 
such as overshadowed the Mount of Transfig- 
uration ; or, a dark cloud, such as hung over 
Mount Sinai, cleft ever and anon by lightnings 
and quivering with thunders. We are simply 
left to conjecture the form and shape and color 
of this cloud. And vet, as to its component 
parts, we have, so we think, little room for 
doubt. The word of God gives us to under- 
stand that the Lord Jesus Christ was escorted 
to his native home by a vast multitude of 
angels. Now we believe, that if that cloud 
could have been penetrated by some celestial 



The Angels and Christ. 157 

telescope, it would have revealed an innumer- 
able company of angels, with horses and char- 
iots of fire, who had come as the escort to 
accompany their Lord and ours to his eternal 
abode. As the one angel was the herald of 
the heavenly host on the day of his birth, so 
the two are now a part of the rear-guard on the 
day of his ascension. Just like the Magellanic 
clouds, Nubecula Major and Nubecula Minor, 
under the powerful glass of the astronomer, 
have resolved themselves into vast accumulated 
masses of stars, or clusters of stars, as well as 
nebulae of different magnitudes and different 
degrees of condensation, so this cloud of glory, 
perhaps " dark with excessive light," was 
only the enswathement which concealed from 
mortal view the glorious retinue which attend- 
ed the Son of God on that glad day. Some 
angels came to conduct the deathless prophet 
home ; may we not truly say, multitudes came 
to escort their Lord and Master? There can 
be no doubt that the psalmist foresaw in vision, 
His great ascent, and his triumphal entry into 
his glory. As he thus observed the vast throng 
approaching the gates and walls of the eternal 
city, aflame with jasper and glittering with 



158 The Angels of God. 

pearls, he heard their cry, " Lift up your heads, 
O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting 
doors; and the King of glory shall come in." 
Those inside the gates respond, " Who is this 
King of glory?" And the answer is returned, 
" The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord 
mighty in battle." Again they cry, " Lift up 
your heads, O ye gates ; even lift them up, ye 
everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall 
come in." Once more they ask from within, 
" Who is this King of glory?" Once more the 
answer is returned, " The Lord of hosts, he is 
the King of glory." It was enough. The gates 
were lifted up, the everlasting doors opened, 
a?id the King of glory entered in. Thus he " as- 
cended upon high, leading away a multitude 
of captives, and receiving gifts for men; yea, 
even for the rebellious also, that the Lord God 
might dwell among them." Thus has he sat 
down on the right hand of God the Father 
Almighty, " from henceforth expecting till 
his enemies be made his footstool." The 
heaven of heavens had never witnessed such a 
scene of triumph before ; it was the inaugura- 
tion day of the King of kings ; it was the 
grand welcome of the God-man; it was the tri- 



The Angels and Christ, 159 

umphal entrance of the Lord of glory into his 
eternal home. 

There, seated by the right hand of the 
Father, he is worshiped and adored by all the 
angelic hosts, and " the number is ten thou- 
sand times ten thousand, and thousands of 
thousands/' who say " with a loud voice, Worthy 
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing/' while the uni- 
verse responds to the song, and re-echoes its 
wonderful strains. Thus, we have seen these 
celestial beings ministering unto their Lord 
through all his wondrous life ; at his resurrec- 
tion and ascension ; and now forever adoring 
him before his throne. Were there no other 
evidence of his divine character but that which 
the proof of their worship and adoration affords, 
this alone would be sufficient. For it must be 
supposed that they all know him — know that 
he is God alone ; or else, we should be driven 
to the alternative, that, in worshiping him, 
they are idolaters: a conclusion too monstrous 
for any person to believe. We can well say 
then, in the triumphant words of the Christian 
poet — 



i6o 



The Angels of God. 



" Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious, 

See the Man of sorrows now; 
From the fight returned victorious, 

Every knee to him shall bow : 
Crown him, crown him ; 

Crowns become the Victor's brow. 

14 Crown the Saviour, angels, crown him: 

Rich the trophies Jesus brings: 
In the seat of power enthrone him, 
While the vault of heaven rings : 

Crown him, crown him ; 
Crown the Saviour King of kings. 

— Thomas Kelly. 

Has it ever occurred to the reader what joy 
and satisfaction it will give to redeemed souls 
to see and converse with those angels who 
bore so conspicuous a part in ministering to 
their Lord and Master? How delightful, when 
we arrive in that heavenly country, to have our 
angel guide inform us, as he points to one after 
another of the angel throng, u That is Gabriel, 
who made the annunciation of the Saviour's 
birth ; w " Those are the angels who ministered 
to him after his temptation : that is the angel 
who strengthened him in the garden ; " and 
"Those are the angels who appeared at his 
resurrection ! " How will we seek to know 
them, to talk with them, and hear of the de- 



The Angels and Christ. 161 

light and joy with which they thus attended 
him in all these eventful periods ! While the 
Lord Jesus Christ himself will be the cynosure 
of all eyes, and the joy of all hearts, we can- 
not doubt that communion with redeemed 
and angelic spirits will form no small part of 
the bliss and happiness of the heavenly world. 
The thought of this, even now, is rapturous 
and inspiring. But "what will it be to be 

there?" 
11 



" The infernal serpent : he it was whose guile, 
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived 
The mother of mankind, what time his pride 
Had cast him out from heaven, with all his host 
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring 
To set himself in glory 'bove his peers, 
He trusted to have equaled the Most High, 
If he opposed ; and with ambitious aim 
Against the throne and monarchy of God, 
Raised impious war in heaven and battle pi*oud, 
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power 
Hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky, 
"With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell 
In adamantine chains and penal fire, 
Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms." 

— Milton. 



V 



The Fallen Angels. 



163 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE FALLEN ANGELS. 



O one who believes in the word of 



^ ^ God, can possibly doubt the existence 
of fallen angels. When they fell, and how 
they fell, we may not know ; but the fact that 
beings once angelic in purity, power, and 
bliss have fallen from this, their " first es- 
tate," is clearly revealed. Their existence, 
their personality, their power, their numbers, 
their character, their employment, -and their 
final and everlasting abode, are frequently 
spoken of in the word of God. It has often 
been a very popular thing, among certain classes 
of the community, to ridicule the idea of the 
existence of these beings ; to laugh in scorn, de- 
rision, or mockery, at those who believe in 
their existence ; and to regard such persons as 
imbeciles, ignoramuses, fanatics, or fools. Let 
it be understood, then, at the very outset of 
this discussion, that all such persons will be un- 
der the necessity of giving up the word of God, 
and of trampling its teachings under their 




164 



The Angels of God. 



feet. But in doing this, while they might 
blot out the evidence of their existence, they 
would also blot out the only hope of immortal- 
ity and eternal life. The existence of a per- 
sonal devil is spoken of as positively, though 
not as frequently, as is the existence of a per- 
sonal God. And all the torturing of tho^e 
passages by those who would prove his non- 
existence, or the toning them down to sig- 
nify a mere mythological something, or some 
impersonal evil or principle, has failed, and 
must, from the very nature of the case, forever 
fail. So long as God's word remains, the fact 
of the existence of " the devil and his angels " 
must be acknowledged. 

The Son of God, speaking of the fall of Sa- 
tan, says : " He was a murderer from the be- 
ginning, and abode not in the truth, because 
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a 
lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and 
the father of it." John viii, 44. What is the 
teaching of this passage ? Evidently, that the 
one who is now called " the devil " was once 
" in the truth ; " that " he abode " in that truth 
for a time ; that the truth was " in him ; " but 
that " he abode not " permanently and contin- 



The Fallen A ngels. 1 6 5 

uously " in the truth ; " and that now he is no 
longer in the truth, but a " liar, and the father 
of it," and is, also, " a murderer from the be- 
ginning " of time. And this, mark, is the tes- 
timony of Christ, the Creator and Lord of the 
angels, who had witnessed the revolt of Satan 
and his angels against God, his departure from 
truth, purity, and goodness, and his absolute 
abandonment to evil and sin, with all their 
fearful and irremediable consequences. In like 
manner, and with all his terse, nervous force- 
fulness, Jude says, " The angels w 7 hich kept 
not their first estate," or principality, " but left 
their own habitation, he hath reserved in 
everlasting chains under darkness unto the 
judgment of the great day." Verse 6. Here 
the angels referred to were originally a " prin- 
cipality." This, for some cause, which we 
learn elsewhere, they did not " keep." They 
also had a habitation in heaven, or in the 
heavens, which they left or were forced to leave. 
And these same angels are now in " everlasting 
chains under darkness," condemned, lost, with- 
out hope of mercy or pardon. St. Peter also 
tells us, " God spared not the angels that 
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and deliv- 



1 66 The Angels of God. 

ered them into chains of darkness, to be re- 
served unto judgment." 2 Pet. ii, 4 ; see also 
I Tim, iii, 6 ; Heb. ii, 14. 

Many have been the conjectures as to the 
cause of their fall, some of them seeming to be 
reasonable and in accordance with the general 
teaching of the divine word, while others are 
most unfounded vagaries. The three most com- 
monly assigned causes for their fall are pride, in- 
subordination, treason. How these could arise 
in the breasts of pure, holy, untempted beings 
we do not know. That they did arise and were 
manifested are presumably the facts in the case. 
Some of the wisest and ablest divines have re- 
garded that there is undoubted allusion to the 
fall of Satan and his angels in the account of 
the fall of Nebuchadnezzar. " How art thou 
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morn- 
ing ! how art thou cut down to the ground, 
which didst weaken the nations ! For thou hast 
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, 
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : 
I will sit also upon the mount of the congre- 
gation, in the sides of the north : I will ascend 
above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like 
the Most High." Isa. xiv, 12-14. Ezekiel, in 



The Fallen Angels. 167 

his vivid description of the King of Tyre, has 
evidently this fearful fact before his eyes. Ezek„ 
xxviii, 12-18. President Edwards has given a 
most clear and exact analysis of this passage, 
which we quote entire, because of its bearing 
upon this question. " I. He is expressly called 
an angel, or cherub, once and again, verses 
14, 16. And is spoken of as a fallen cherub. 
2. He is spoken of as having been in heaven 
under three different names ; by which names 
heaven is often called in Scripture, namely, 
Eden, the garden of God, or the paradise of God, 
ver. 13 ; the holy mountain of God, vers. 14, 16 ; 
and the sanctuary, ver. 18. 3. He is spoken 
of as having been in a most happy state in the 
paradise of God, in great honor, and beauty, 
and pleasure. 4. He is spoken of as in his 
first estate, or the state wherein he was cre- 
ated ; as being perfectly free from sin, but aft- 
erward falling by sin, verse 15: ' Thou wast 
perfect in thy ways, from the day thou wast 
created, till iniquity was found in thee.' 5. The 
iniquity by which he fell was pride, or his being 
lifted up by reason of his superlative beauty and 
brightness, verse 17: 4 Thine heart was lifted 
up because of thy beauty. Thou hast cor- 



1 68 The Angels of God. 

rupted thy wisdom by reason of thy bright- 
ness/ 6. He is represented as being cast out 
of heaven, and cast down to the earth for his 
sin, verse 16: ' Therefore I will cast thee, as 
profane, out of the mountain of God ; and I 
will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the 
midst of the flames of fire/ Ver. 17: ' I will 
cast thee to the ground/ 7. He is repre- 
sented as being destroyed by fire here, in this 
earthly world, ver. 18. 8. His great wisdom is 
spoken of as being corrupted by sin, that is, 
turned into a wicked craftiness, ver. 17 : i Thou 
had corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy 
brightness/ If the King of Tyrus were not 
here expressly called a ' cherub 9 in the para- 
dise of God, and in Gods holy mountain, by 
which it is most evident that he is spoken of 
as a type of a cherub in the paradise of God, 
yet the matter would have been very plain ; 
for the things here spoken of cannot be applied 
to the King of Tyrus with any beauty in any 
other way than as a type of the devil, who was 
once a glorious angel in paradise/' * 

Again, Dr. Dvvight says : " That pride and 
ambition were especially the sins by which Sa- 
* Edwards ; 4< Works," vol. i, pp. 698, 6qq. 



The Fallen Angels. 169 

tan and his companions fell, is, I think, suffi- 
ciently evident from 1 Tim. iii, 6, where St. 
Paul, speaking of a bishop, says, ' He must 
not be a novice — a new convert — lest, being 
puffed up with pride, lie fall into the condemna- 
tion of the devil! In this passage it is plainly 
asserted that the devil was condemned for his 
pride, and it is fairly presumable that the same 
sin was the source of condemnation to his as- 
sociates. The revolt appears to have been but 
one ; to have existed at one time ; and to have 
united those who shared in it in the same 
guilt, as well as in the same undertaking." * 
In this view nearly every great divine is 
agreed. These fallen angels are of various 
ranks and orders, but they are all marshaled 
under one great leader. These orders and 
ranks are referred to by the apostle in Eph. 
vi, 12 : " f or we wrestle not against flesh and 
blood, but against principalities and powers, 
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
against spiritual wickedness [wicked spirits] 
in high [or heavenly] places." They -are also 
referred to by the same apostle in Rom. viii, 38 : 
14 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 

* 11 Theology," vol. i, p. 323. 



170 The Angels of God. 

life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of 
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Cer- 
tainly evil angels are here referred to, also evil 
principalities and powers, as good angels would 
not labor for this purpose. Thomas Aquinas — 
the " angelical doctor " — supposes that some of 
all the orders of angels fell. The number that 
fell was, doubtless, very great. Mr. Wesley 
says : " Their number God alone can tell ; 
doubtless it was only less than infinite. And a 
third part of the stars of heaven the arch rebel 
drew after him." * 

" They throng the air, they darken heaven, 
And rule this lower world." 

As to the time when they fell very many 
writers, and Mr. Wesley among the number, 
suppose it was when God published the de- 
cree (mentioned Psa. ii, 6, 7) concerning the 
rule of his wSon over all creatures, these first- 
born of creatures then gave place to pride, 
comparing themselves to him. Satan may 
then have given way to the thought arising 
within him, " I, too, will have my throne. I 
will sit upon the sides of the north. I will be 

* " Sermons," vol. ii, p. 140, 



The Fallen Angels. 



171 



like the Most High." So Milton sang of this 
event : 

" Satan, (so call him now, his former name 

Is heard no more in heaven ;) he of the first, 

If not the first archangel, great in power, 

In favor and pre-eminence, yet fraught 

With envy 'gainst the Son of God, that day 

Honored by his great Father, and proclaimed 

Messiah, king anointed, could not bear 

Through pride, that sight, and thought himself impaired. 

... He resolved 
With all his legions to dislodge, and leave 
Unworshiped, unobeyed, the throne supreme, 
Contemptuous ! " 

There is one of their number, " the archangel 
ruined," who is the head, the prince, the 
leader of these fallen beings. He is called 
by various names and titles, as Satan, the 
Devil, Beelzebub, the Dragon, the Old Serpent, 
Traducer, Wicked One, God of this World, 
Prince of the Power of the Air, Prince of this 
World, Accuser of the Brethren, Tempter, Ad- 
versary, the Enemy, Belial, Abaddon, Apol- 
lyon. All these appellations are employed to 
designate the same person, and to indicate his 
nature and the character of his work. " The 
Scriptures make a distinction between Aia(3oXog 
and datfjicov, which is not observed in the En- 



172 The Angels of God. 

glish version. In the spiritual world then is 
only one Sid3oXoc, (devil,) but there are many 
daifiuvia, (demons.) " " " Diabolos is the Greek 
translation of Satan in various passages of the 
LXX.; for instance: Zech. iii, 1, 2; Job i, 6, 7, 12. 
In Eph. iv, 27, and vi, ii, the arch-enemy is 
called the devil, (didfioXoc,) but in Rom. i, and 
2 Cor. i, and 2 Thess. ii, 9, he is called Satan, 
(laravag.) Eight times in all. In 1 Tim. both 
words are used, which is the usage of Matthew, 
Luke, and John. In 2 Tim. and Titus diabo- 
los, or devil, only occurs. Satan is a Hebrew 
word, meaning adversary, and was, doubtless, 
the word Paul used in addressing his country- 
men ; but, in addressing Gentiles, he would 
naturally use Diabolos, a Greek word, meaning 
slanderer. Now as the Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians is addressed to Gentiles, it is highly proper 
that the latter w T ord should be employed. " f 

It is well said by Dr. Hodge, " that the opin- 
ion that the doctrine of Satan was introduced 
among the Hebrews after the exile, and from 
a heathen source, is contrary to the plain 
teachings of the Bible. He is represented as 

* Hodge, vol. i, p. 643. 

f Harman's " Introduction to the Holy Scriptures," p. 606. 



The Fallen Angels. 173 

the tempter of our first parents, and is dis- 
tinctly mentioned in the Book of Job, which 
was written long before the Babylonish captiv- 
ity." With these general facts before us, let 
us now consider more particularly — 

1. That the devil is a personality ', and not a 
personification. It has been argued by many 
that the words employed to designate the arch- 
fiend are merely intended to personify evil — 
evil desires, depravity, wicked thoughts and 
feelings ; while the very idea of his personality 
has been laughed to scorn by rationalists and 
skeptics of every grade. But every form of 
expression employed by writers in every age 
to designate and denote personality has been 
used in speaking of him. So true is this, and 
he is so constantly represented as a personality, 
or personal being, that the notion of his being 
only a personification of evil is utterly irrecon- 
cilable with the plainest teachings of the word 
of God. The personal pronouns he, his, him, 
himself, whom, are all employed in the Script- 
ures, when speaking of his existence, his char- 
acter, and his work. In the account of the 
temptation of Christ in the wilderness, it is said, 
(Matt, iv, 3,) " When the tempter came to him, 



174 The Angels of God. 

he said/' In the account of the final judgment, 
given by Christ, and in the sentence pronounced 
against the wicked, it is said: "Depart, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels ." He also said, in speaking of the 
devil, " He was a murderer from the beginning. 
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his 
own : for he is a liar, and the father of it." 
John ix, 44. Paul, writing to Timothy of cer- 
tain perverse ones, says, " That they may re- 
cover themselves out of the snare of the devil, 
who are taken captive by him at his will." So 
in the letter to the Hebrews it is said, " That 
Christ might destroy him that had the power 
of death, that is, the devil." St. Peter says, 
" The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist 
steadfast in the faith." The word " himself" 
is used of Satan in Mark iii, 26; Luke xi, 18 ; 
2 Cor. xi, 14. 

Not only so, the definite article is always 
applied when speaking of him, as the devil. 
Let any one then try any of the interpretations 
which some have claimed that the word devil 
or Satan may mean, and they will at once see 
the absurdity of them. As an illustration of 



The Fallen A ngels. 175 

this take the following : " These shall go away 
into everlasting punishment prepared for evil 
desire and his angels." Or, your wicked 
thought, or feeling, or principle, goeth about 
seeking whom he may devour- — whom resist. 
All similar interpretations will be found to be 
equally ridiculous. We cannot conceive, in- 
deed, of any clearer language w T hich the in- 
spired writers could have employed to desig- 
nate the personality of this adversary of God 
and man. 

2. His purpose in this world is to overthrow 
the worship, the law, and, the authority of Je- 
hovah. To accomplish these purposes all his 
mighty powers are employed, and all the le- 
gions of hell are in hearty sympathy and union 
with him. No sooner were the newly-created 
pair placed in paradise than he began his work 
of deception and lies, in which he was only too 
successful. God had forbidden them to eat of 
the tree of knowledge of good and evil, assuring 
them, that the day they should eat of it they 
should surely die. But the devil, in his invet- 
erate opposition to God, said to them : " Ye 
shall not surely die ; for God doth know that 
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall 



J 



176 The Angels of God. 

be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing 
good and evil." He thus gives the lie directly 
to God, and charges him with intentionally 
deceiving them, while he plies his deceptive 
arts, and seduces them from their allegiance 
to their Creator. Thus seduced, they fell. 
But immediately the promise of a Redeemer 
was given, who should bruise his head, al- 
though, in the conflict, his own heel would be 
bruised. Here was inaugurated the long strife 
which all the past ages have witnessed, and 
which will be continued until the day of final 
doom. 

A System of sacrifices, based upon the prom 
ise of the coming Deliverer, was now ordained, 
and a way of approach for man to God revealed, 
notwithstanding his fallen condition. Then 
Abel offered his sacrifice, and men began to call 
upon the name of the Lord. But at once Sa- 
tan began his work of opposition to God's plans. 
First. Cain was influenced to bring his deistical 
offering of merely fruits of the field, or products 
of the earth, without any reference to the sacri- 
fice which God had probably required. And 
because of its non-acceptance, and the accept- 
ance of the ottering of Abel, the mind of Cain 



The Fallen Angels. 177 

was inflamed with anger and jealousy, and he 
rose up and slew his own brother, the "right- 
eous Abel.'' How far this antagonism of Sa- 
tan developed itself before the flood is evident, 
when we consider that men, under his influ- 
ence, became so corrupt and wicked that God 
destroyed them from off the face of the earth. 

Subsequently to this, idolatry began to de- 
velop itself in the earth. This was the devil's 
great counterfeit of God's worship and service, 
and nearly the whole world accepted it instead 
of the true worship. Every object was wor- 
shiped, from the sun and moon and stars in 
the heavens, to beasts, reptiles, and even vege- 
tables of the earth. Images of the gods in 
gold, silver, wood, and stone were made by 
men ; temples were erected for their worship, 
sacrifices were offered to them, priests were 
consecrated to their service, and the world re- 
sounded with the false, idolatrous worshipings. 

All this was in opposition to God — was Sa- 
tan's grand device to keep men from God, and 
seduce them from his worship. They might 
have known the worthlessness of those sys- 
tems, and might have learned their obligations 

to the true God. " For the invisible things of 
12 



178 The Angels of God, 

him, from the creation of the world, were 
clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made, even his eternal power and 
Godhead, so that they are without excuse." 
Rom. i, 20. But " they changed the glory of 
the uncorruptible God into an image made 
like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and 
four footed beasts, and creeping things." 
Ver. 23. In Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Greece, 
Rome, India, China, Africa, Britain, Gaul, and 
the islands of the sea, idolatry became firm- 
ly established in the progress of the ages. 
These idols were demons, according to the 
word of God, and the title which the pagans 
gave to the objects of their worship. So Paul 
says, " The things which the Gentiles sacri- 
fice, they sacrifice to demons, [daifioviog,] and 
not to God ; and I would not that ye should 
have fellowship with demons." He also calls 
these idolaters atheists, in Eph. ii, 12, where he 
says that they are " without God [adeei, 
atheists] in the world." They rejected the 
idea of God as the Creator, as Eternal, as 
the Living God, and worshiped the creature 
rather than, and more than, the Creator. 
" The heavens, that is, the sky, the atmos- 



The Fallen A ngels. 1 79 

phere around us, they worshiped under the 
titles of Zeus or Dis ; of Jupiter, or Jove; 
and (among the Canaanites and Babylonians) 
of Baal, Bel, or Belus. They worshiped the 
earth also under the title of Demeter and Cy- 
bele, called by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors 
Hertha, (whence our words " earth " and 
" hearth,") and by them most especially vener- 
ated. The pagans also worshiped the sea, un- 
der the title of Neptune ; the sun, under that 
of Phoebus, or Apollo ; and the moon, under 
that of Diana. These last they called the son 
and daughter of Jove.* So true is it what 
Milton says of the idolatrous throng, " And 
devils to adore for deities." 

One small nation was chosen out of the 
world to be the depositary of God's truth and 
worship ; but how often, during the nine hun- 
dred years of their dwelling in the land of Ca- 
naan, before the Babylonish captivity, were 
they seduced from the worship of Jehovah to 
that of the idolatrous worship of the surround- 
ing nations ; until, at last, wasted and enfeebled, 
they were led captives into Babylon, where 
they remained for seventy long years ; and the 

* Whateley p. 83. 



l8o Tfu Angels of God, 

ten tribes previously carried into Assyria were 
largely blotted out of the history and nation- 
ality of the Jewish people. 

The names of these idols even are too nu- 
merous to be mentioned here — Moloch, Che- 
mosh, Baal, and Ashtaroth, Thammuz, Dagon, 
Osiris, IsiSj Orus, and all the thirty thousand 
divinities of Greece and Rome. But, no mat- 
ter by what name they were called, or with 
what rites they were worshiped, all were de- 
signed to draw men from God to Satan, and 
to substitute demon-worship for the worship 
of Jehovah. And now, at the close of six thou- 
sand years, after all the might}' agencies which 
have been employed for their overthrow, and 
after the mightiest and most splendid of these 
systems have been overthrown, still there are 
in existence systems of idolatry in India, 
China, Japan, Africa, and some of the islands 
of the sea, which hold under their sway nearly 
three fourths of the fourteen hundred millions 
of our globe. Truly Satan is well called "the 
god of this world," and the powers under him 
" the rulers of the darkness of this world." We 
cannot conceal it from ourselves, if we would, 
that although eighteen centuries have passed 



The Fallen Angels. 181 



since the cross was upreared on Calvary, yet 
to this hour the very large proportion of this 
world is under the dominion of Satan. Why 
this has been permitted so long we cannot tell. 
God will, sooner or later, make all this plain to 
us ; although, to our poor, short-sighted minds 
this is often occasion of wonderment and alarm. 

But heathen idolatry is only one of the coun- 
terfeits which Satan has employed to deceive 
mankind. Christ came into the world and 
died to redeem and save it. He arose from the 
grave and ascended to heaven, and from his 
throne poured forth the Holy Spirit. Thou- 
sands were converted on the day of Pentecost, 
and tens of thousands during the first century. 
Heathen temples were largely deserted, sacri- 
fices were brought no more, and multitudes of 
priests forsook their altars and shrines. All 
over the vast Roman empire men were wearied 
with the devil's counterfeit, and sick and tired 
of idolatry. The banner of the cross was car- 
ried every-where in triumph, until at length it 
floated from the throne of the Caesars. And 
now appeared another deception. Christ has 
his Church, and the devil will have his. First 
he rent and tore the true Church with divis- 



1 82 The Angels of God. 

ions, dissensions, heresies, and schisms ; then 
dazzled it with worldly, ambitious plans and 
projects ; until, finally, there was born out of its 
corruptions the great " mystery of iniquity," 
" Babylon," the Church of Rome, the " mother 
of harlots and abominations of the earth ! " 
Satan set up on its throne one who claims to 
be the vicegerent of God upon earth, and who 
claims that his Church is the only true Church, 
and all must come into it if they would be 
saved. No longer was heard the grand old 
evangel, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved," but, " Believe the 
Church," " Obey the Church," and thou shalt 
be saved. And for centuries the world has 
wandered after this " Beast." Thrones, domin- 
ions, principalities, and powers submitted 
tamely to his authority, and placed their necks 
under the feet of its insolent pontiff, " who . . . 
as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God." 2 Thess. ii, 4. Thus for 
twelve hundred years this system of iniquity has 
been at work in the world. Not only so. This 
apostate Church has become a great persecut- 
ing system, and has hunted down, imprisoned, 
exiled, endungeoned, burned, beheaded, and 



The Fallen Angels. 183 

butchered men, women, and children in mill- 
ions, simply because they have believed God's 
word and clung to the simple, precious truths 
of the Gospel in opposition to the dogmas and 
" old wives' fables M which it has held. It has 
reared the dark walls of the inquisition, the 
most cruel and abominable system of persecu- 
tion the world ever saw, and through its dark 
and dismal agencies countless thousands have 
been mercilessly put to death. At the same 
time its corruptions, abominations, and impu- 
rities have been such as to astonish the world, 
and darken the very heavens. Its great power 
has been employed to crush men, to keep them 
in ignorance, blindness, superstition, and idol- 
atry ; and as the climax of its idolatry has wor- 
shiped Mary as " the mother of God," and the 
pope as the " infallible Lord God ! " It has 
taught men that they can, by their manipula- 
tion of the bread of the sacrament, transmute 
it into the body and blood, soul and divinity, 
of Christ. What the heathen regarded as the 
very climax of all abominations even to think 
of, namely, that a man can eat his god, they be- 
lieve they do every time they partake of the 
mass, It has instituted a form of idolatry as 



184 The Anrds of Gcd. 

sensuous and degrading as was that of the 
worship of Venus, in the worship of Man*, giv- 
ing to her more worship, really, than to the 
Father and the Son. And, in order that it 
may the more effectually keeo its votaries in 



has forbidden tnem tc 
i . i ^ -i , 



Now that this is the devil's counterfeit of 
the Christian religion we cannot doubt. No 
more certainly was idolatry his invention in the 
old world and in the pre-Christian era. to keep 
men from the worship of the true God. than 
Romanism is a counterfeit of a pure and holy 
Christianity. 

As the ages have passed away and new de- 
velopments of the work of God have been 
made, we see clearly how Satanic agency has 
striven to counteract them. When the Refor- 
mation, under Luther, Melanchthon. Zwingle, 
Farel. Knox, and Calvin, was inaugurated, in its 
first grand and mighty movements it threatened 
the complete overthrow of the kingdo m of the 
Beast. But right in the midst of these splendid 
operations the Jesuits were raised up. doubtless 
through Satan's agency. Their character and 



The Fallen Angels. 



185 



movements, more fully than any other scheme 
which he ever devised, are also a more com- 
plete reflex of his own image and likeness. 
The subtlety, machinations, unprincipled con- 
duct, cruelties, disregard of all truth, utter- 
ances of all lies, when by this they think the 
interests of Rome can be best subserved, all 
show that their origin is to be traced to the 
malignity and the hellish determination to 
keep men from " the truth as it is in Jesus." 
Nor can we overlook, in this category, his ef- 
forts in other Churches, not Romanistic in 
name, where the evidences of his working are 
clearly visible. Ritualism is another great 
counterfeit of spiritual religion. And the form- 
alism, worldliness, covetousness, indifference, 
corruption, and abominations in other Protest- 
ant Churches are akin to the same spirit of an- 
tichrist, and will, sooner or later, fall under the 
same condemnation. All these things effect- 
ually keep the minds and hearts of the people 
from Christ, and from that pure, spiritual re- 
ligion which he came upon the earth to estab- 
lish. 

Nor can we fail to see the cunning and 
intrigue of the old serpent in the intoxicants 



1 86 The A7tgels of God. 

which are employed among the nations. In 
all ages of the world these have been employed 
in connection with the kindred vices of licen- 
tiousness, gaming, and blasphemy, to bondage 
the minds of men, to inflame their passions, and 
to make them the more obedient subjects of his 
kingdomand rule. These vices, parent incharaci 
ter as they are, have probably ruined more souls 
than all others united. And, especially within 
the boundaries of Christendom, Satan has skill- 
fully employed them to keep men from God 
and from heaven. Countless thousands, from 
year to year, are going down to the drunkard's 
grave and the drunkard's hell, while the mis- 
eries, the sorrows, the woes, the bloodshed, the 
widows and orphans made by them, no mind 
can conceive and no language describe. Were 
it not for these vices, so inseparably interlinked 
together, the Christian Church to-day would 
be able to go forth to the speedy conquest of 
this world for Christ. 

Infidelity is another agency of Satan. Not 
content with counterfeiting religion, he has led 
many to deny its reality and truthfulness — to 
deny God, Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, 
the sanctity of the Sabbath — and thus to over- 



The Fallen Angels. 187 

throw the kingdom of God in the world. All 
along the ages, in one form or another, he has 
plied this agency. He has led many fools to 
say in their hearts, " No God." And from 
this boldest, baldest form of atheism, down 
through all deism, materialism, pantheism, Ari- 
anism, and Universalism, he has exerted his 
power to keep men from the truth. Some- 
times these systems have been loud and boast- 
ful in their denunciations and purposes ; as in 
the instances of Voltaire, Rousseau, d' Alembert, 
Hume, Bolingbroke, and Thomas Paine. At 
others wily, insidious, plausible, as in the ra- 
tionalism of Strauss and Hegel, and the scien- 
tific infidelity of Spencer, Tyndall, Huxley, 
and Darwin. Sometimes this has been pre- 
sented to the world in large treatises and with 
the show of great learning ; at others, with 
ribald and blasphemous utterances, in subtle 
doubt injected into unwise and unwary minds, 
in philosophic and scientific forms, and in 
downright denials of truth. Thus, in a thou- 
sand forms, has " the god of this world blinded 
the minds of them which believe not ; lest the 
light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is 
the image of God, should shine unto them. ,, 



1 88 The Angels of God, 

As further evidence of Satan's existence and 
power, his strategy and his malice, look at the 
various ways in which he has attempted to 
crush out God's truth from the world. By 
means of false prophets, witches, wizards, nec- 
romancers, thaumaturgists, magicians, and, in 
these latter days, by modern spiritualism — one 
of the greatest deceptions ever practiced upon 
the human mind. These things, while they 
endeavor to contravene God's authority, and 
also to substitute something else for God's 
truth, have denied the fundamental teachings 
of his word, denounced the great sacrificial 
offering of Jesus Christ, and the Church which 
" he purchased with his blood," and scouted 
the idea of a future state of punishments, and 
the existence of a personal devil. In like 
manner, may we not trace to his agency the 
wars, bloodshed, divisions, dissensions, strifes, 
murders, robberies, thefts, adulteries, extor- 
tions, frauds, deceptions, and cruelties which 
are so frequent in the world. True, we learn 
that they proceed from the " lusts" of men, 
" out of their hearts;" but are they not insti- 
gated, suggested, or dictated by him ? 

All this, we know, is a dark picture of Satan's 



The Fallen Angels, 189 

reign in this world. But the picture is not, 
certainly, overdrawn. The facts recorded upon 
the page of history, the occurrences which are 
daily registered in the press, or which come 
under our own observation or experience, all 
demonstrate the truthfulness of these state- 
ments. These things are in the world. They 
cannot be denied. If there is not a Satanic, a 
demoniacal, agency at work in producing them, 
then we must believe that multitudes of men 
and women are themselves demons. 

But, while all these things are visible in the 
world at large, there are other evidences of his 
devices, his malice and rage, in the temptations 
with which every true child of God is assailed. 
We have seen how he tempted the Son of 
God to do the worst thing which could possi- 
bly be done, namely, to fall down and worship 
him. So, ofttimes, his own children are tempt- 
ed. The holiest, the wisest, and the best of 
men and women have been tempted to do the 
worst and the wickedest things. Under these 
temptations very many have fallen — have been 
seduced away from truth, holiness, virtue, and 
God. Many more, however, have held firm 
and fast, and resisted steadfastly in the faith, 



190 The Angels of God. 

and have overcome at the last. These Satanic 
temptations are numerous, varied, determined, 
persevering, and never cease until the child of 
God is safely housed within the jasper walls 
and gates of pearl. One of the greatest mys- 
teries upon which the mind can dwell — one, 
which in itself is occasion of greater question- 
ings and more unanswerable difficulties than 
any other, is, why are these things permitted? 
Why has Satan been permitted so long to ex- 
ert his power, and to maintain, by the various 
means referred to, his sway over the world? 
Why, after six thousand years, is the earth still 
burdened and bondaged with the effects of his 
reign ? No wonder that the souls under the 
altar, and saints at the mercy-seat, have cried 
out so often, and in such agony, " How long, 
O Lord, how long!'' But we believe that 
the mystery will, one day, be all made plain, 
and that this long reign of Satan will erelong 
come to a close. 

We cannot think, however, that Satan is 
omnipresent, while we attribute to his agency, 
without any hesitancy, all the things men- 
tioned, and a thousand more, of which no 
tongue can speak. He may be swift in his flight 



' The Fallen Angels. 191 

as the lightning's flash, but he cannot be in two 
places at one and the same time. No doubt he 
has great skill in the massing and distribution 
of his forces, which, in countless myriads, are 
arrayed under him, and which always do his 
bidding. So that all over the earth, at every 
moment, this agency is at work, and its fearful 
operations are being carried on. To doubt or 
deny this, is either to stultify ourselves, or 
demonize the race. If men do what they 
often do, of their own free-will and accord, un- 
tempted, and unsolicited, and uninstigated, 
then, as w T e have already said, they are more 
demonized than we are wont to believe. It is 
somewhat strange, however, that usually the 
men who deny Satanic agency, deny also the 
depravity of the human heart. Hence, we see 
the strange inconsistency in the idea, that while 
sin and iniquity, in a thousand forms, have 
prevailed in every age, country, and clime, yet, 
it is all done without any Satanic agency, and, 
according to their theory, by men and women 
who are born pure and holy ! It is not worth 
while to argue with persons so blinded by 
their dogmas or prejudices, and so incapable 
of accounting for the actual condition of things 



192 The Angels of God. 

■* 

around them. We prefer the clear, plain teach- 
ings of the divine word, that men are depraved, 
and that their depraved natures are acted 
upon by Satanic agencies, suggesting, inciting, 
blinding, inflaming, and deceiving them. 

Thus it is that Satan and his hosts act upon 
the human race as enemies, as tempters, as coun- 
terfeiters of the religion instituted by Christ, 
and as the tyrants, deceivers, and destroyers 
of mankind. The great Robert Hall, speaking 
of Satan and his work, says : " It must be con- 
fessed that the Scriptures teach us to conceive 
of Satanic agency as occurring in almost every 
act of deliberate sin. He is said to have filled 
the heart of Ananias ; to have entered into 
Judas after he had taken the sop. But this 
does not lead us to ascribe any proper omni- 
presence to this apostate spirit. ... In de- 
scribing the affairs of an empire, it is the uni- 
form custom of the historian to ascribe its 
achievements to one person, to the ruling mind 
under whose authority they are effected. Con- 
ceiving Satan to be the chief or head of a spir- 
itual dominion, we easily account for the extent 
of the agency he is affirmed to exert in tempt- 
ing and seducing the human race ; not by sup- 



The Fallen Angels. 193 

posing him to be personally present whenever 
such an operation is carried on, but by refer- 
ring it to his auspices, and considering it as 
belonging to the history of his empire. On 
this principle no more ubiquity or omnipres- 
ence is attributed to Satan by our system, 
than to Alexander, Caesar, or Tamerlane, whose 
power was felt, and their authority acknowl- 
edged, far beyond the limits of their personal 
presence." 

But it is asked, How can Satan and his 
angels act in this manner upon the minds of 
men ? In reply to this we would say, Men do 
thus act upon one another, in influencing and 
controlling them for good or evil. This we 
cannot deny. If, then, men can thus act upon 
each other, is it unreasonable to suppose that 
a superior order of beings may thus act upon, 
influence, and control them? It is admitted 
that good angels do mingle among men ; that 
they guide, protect, comfort, direct, and influ- 
ence them in many ways — that they are, in- 
deed, constantly interested and concerned in 
this world's affairs. With equal clearness and 
certainty evil angels are declared to act upon 

the minds of men, and in the affairs of this 
13 



194 The Angels of God. 

world. And, to our mind, there is no greater 
difficulty in believing the one than there is in 
believing the other. So if good angels labor 
to promote our obedience to God, our safety, 
and our salvation, may not evil angels be sup- 
posed to labor to induce us to disobey God, to 
injure, and destroy us? But both of these 
facts are matters of revealed truth, and being 
revealed in the book of God, and being in har- 
mony with the experience of the race, we fully 
believe them. 

Instead, therefore, of scouting the idea of a 
personal devil, who is the chief, the prince, the 
leader of the fallen angels under him, it is all- 
important that we be made fully aware of his 
existence and his power, as well as his wicked 
designs : that we be apprised of our danger, 
and be led to be on our guard against his as- 
saults, and to be prepared for his temptations 
and devices. It was in view of this that the 
Son of God said to Peter, " Simon, Simon, be- 
hold Satan hath desired to have you, that he 
may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for 
thee, that thy faith fail not." Luke xxii, 31, 32. 
So Paul wrote to the Corinthians, " Lest Satan 
should get an advantage of us : for we are not 



The Fallen Angels. 195 

ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor. ii, 11. Also, 
he says that Satan, in his deceptive and insid- 
ious methods, is " transformed into an angel 
of light." He tells them, in a wonderful chap- 
ter of his own history and experience, that 
" there was given to me . . . the messenger of 
Satan to buffet me." 2 Cor. xii, 7. He writes 
to the Thessalonians how Satan had hindered 
him from coming to them. 1 Thess. ii, 18, 
Jesus, in his instructive parable of the Sower, 
tells the multitudes how the devil cometh and 
taketh away the word which is sown out of 
their hearts, lest they should believe, and be 
saved. Luke viii, 12. The evangelist says, that 
it was the devil which entered into Judas, and 
led him to act as he did in the betrayal of his 
Master. John xiii, 2. The apostle Paul writes 
to the Ephesian Church, that they must put 
on the whole armor of God, that they may be 
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
He warns Timothy against making a bishop 
of a novice, " lest ... he fall into the con- 
demnation of the devil." Also, that he " must 
have a good report of them which are without, 
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the 
devil." 1 Tim. jii, 6, 7. He urges him further 



196 The Angels of God. 

to use every means to bring to repentance and 
acknowledgment of the truth those who op- 
pose themselves, "that they may recover them- 
selves out of the snare of the devil, who are 
taken captive by him at his will." 2 Tim. ii, 26. 
St. James urges his brethren to " Resist the 
devil," assuring them that, if they do, he will 
flee from them. James iv, 7. And St. Peter 
exhorts the strangers scattered abroad : " Be 
sober, be vigilant : because your adversary the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking 
whom he may devour : whom resist steadfast 
in the faith." 1 Pet. v, 8, 9. The Revelator 
tells the Church at Smyrna that " the devil shall 
cast some of them into prison, that they may 
be tried." He speaks of this deceiver, as "the 
great dragon . . . called the Devil, and Satan, 
which deceiveth the whole world:" that he was 
to be " cast out . . . and his angels . . . cast 
out with him." Rev. xii, 9. 

Here, then, we see that Christ and his apos- 
tles warn, exhort, and charge us to be on our 
guard, to watch, to offer determined resistance 
to this Satanic agency, and to stand firm and 
fast in this fight with the powers of darkness : 
so important is this great truth regarded by 



The Fallen Angels. 197 

the inspired writers- — so essential is it to our 
best interest that we be made constantly 
aware of this fact, and on our guard against 
this foe. Well may every one say: 

" My soul, be on thy guard ; 

Ten thousand foes arise ; 
The hosts of sin are pressing hard 

To draw thee from the skies. 

"Ne'er think the victory won, 

Nor lay thine armor down : 
The work of faith will not be done, 

Till thou obtain the crown." 

There is another practical truth to be re- 
membered and regarded in this connection : 
that all who come under the influence of Sa- 
tanic agency voluntarily become partakers of 
the same nature ; are his children, his allies, 
and will suffer the same punishment which he 
and his angels endure, unless delivered in 
time by the grace of God. Hence Christ told 
the Jews, " Ye are of your father the devil, 
and the lusts of your father ye will do;" and that 
as he was a murderer from the beginning, and 
abode not in the truth, so they, having mur- 
derous thoughts in their hearts toward him, and 
not believing the truth which he told them, 
were not only the children of the devil, but 
were also like him. Again, the beloved John 



198 The Angels of God. 

says, " He that committeth sin is of the devil" 
Judas is called " a devil/' because he acted un- 
der the influence, and according to the dicta- 
tion, of Satan. Even Peter was called Satan 
upon a certain occasion, because, for the mo- 
ment, he spoke as Satan might be supposed 
to speak in attempting to thwart the pur- 
poses of the divine Son of God. Instances 
where, in the word of God, men are said 
to be like Satan, and children of Satan, might 
be multiplied : but these are sufficient. We 
call attention only to the fact, that being like 
him they will, unless saved by grace, share 
in his punishment. The Lord Jesus Christ 
— who is to be the judge in that great day — 
states that he will say to the wicked upon his 
left hand, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels? So also in Rev. xxi. 8; xiv, 11. In 
the one place we read that " the fearful, and 
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murder- 
ers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and 
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in 
the lake which burnetii with fire and brim- 
stone:'' and in the other, "And the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up for ever and 



The Fallen Angels. 199 

ever : and they have no rest day nor night, 
who worship the beast and his image, and 
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." 

The picture which we have here presented 
is, indeed, dark and terrifying, whether Ave 
regard the power and might of Satanic agency 
in the world, or as affecting individual men 
and women. It would seem, at first sight, 
that with such an array of evil powers against 
us, no one could overcome in the strife ; that 
no one could be good or do good. It looks as 
if the current of evil influence was so strong 
that it would irresistibly bear us away to de- 
struction. But this is only one side of the 
picture, and that its darker side. There is a 
bright side toward which we can look with 
confidence, and which, when by faith we view 
it. will inspire us with the hope of victory and 
triumph. " They that be with us are more 
than they that be with them," True, on the 
one side are arrayed Satan and all his mighty 
hosts — an innumerable multitude — possessing 
great power, subtilty, skill, unity, and deter- 
mination. But on the other side is the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, and 
with him an innumerable company of holy an- 



200 The Angels of God. 

gels. Then, too, we are to remember that the 
power of the prince of darkness is limited. 
He can go no further than he is permitted to 
go. It was so in the case of Job. The Lord 
refused to allow him to proceed in his trial of 
the afflicted patriarch further than to given 
points, although far enough to test, to the full, 
the patience of his servant, his unswerving 
trust, and his unwavering fidelity. And so 
the apostle tells us, " There hath no tempta- 
tion [from Satan] taken you but such as is 
common to man ; but God is faithful, who will 
not suffer you to be tempted above that 
ye are able ; but will, with the temptation, 
also make a way to escape, that ye may be 
able to bear it." i Cor. x, 13. Again, "The 
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out 
of temptation." Furthermore, we have the 
great fact ever presented before us in the di- 
vine word, that millions have overcome. They 
stood firm in their allegiance to God, in the 
very midst of the fight, and they have gained 
their eternal reward. They are now crowned 
conquerors before the throne, no more to be 
assaulted by the powers of darkness — no more 
to have their salvation put in peril by their 



The Fallen Angels. 201 

conflicts with the powers of darkness — they are 
forever at rest. And as they have overcome, 
so may we. 

We know not all the reason for the permis- 
sion of these conflicts and temptations. Some 
reasons are revealed ; some become apparent 
to us in the lapse of time ; but others, and 
they, perhaps, the most important, we do not 
know. Generally, we know that they test the 
fidelity, strengthen the graces, confirm the 
courage and determination of God's saints, and 
show to the world what God can do for a poor, 
weak, trembling child of his in the midst of 
these conflicts, enabling him to stand fast, 
and to overcome at the last. It is only vic- 
tors who are crowned. It is only the over- 
comers who sit with Christ in his throne. 
And God has given to his people to become 
victors, conquerors, and then crowns and en- 
thrones them in his kingdom, 

We do not know what the effect may be upon 
other worlds of this ongoing conflict, with 
its shouts of victory and triumph ever and 
anon swelling up to heaven. Doubtless, it fills 
all hell with rage and agony, while all heaven 
shouts its acclaim at every victory which is 



202 The Angels of God. 

won. " We are compassed about with a great 
cloud of witnesses ; " and, if there is joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repents, there is surely great joy over one 
saint who triumphs over sin and Satan. 

Another thing is made very certain : that 
the feeblest one who trusts in Christ is more 
than a match for all the powers of darkness. 
We contend against an already conquered foe : 

" his face 

Deep scars of thunder had intrenched," 

when driven down to hell. He probably knows 
the limit of his power and reign. He knows 
that his time is short. And even while it lasts, 
his power is curbed and held in check by One 
who is mightier than he. He knows full well 
that Jesus, the mighty Conqueror, is ever 
counterworking his kingdom and his reign, 
and that they must and will be overthrown. 
Perhaps he knows not fully when all this will 
be. The demons in the days of Chrises in- 
carnation besought him not to send them 
into the deep — the abyss of hell. Knowing 
and fearing his power, perhaps they thought 
the time of their judgment and confinement 
in hell's dark prison-house had come. But, 



The Fallen Angels. 203 

however this may have been, Satan, while his 
power lasts, will spread all the devastation, 
ruin, and death in God's physical and moral 
empire that he can, and in this he finds only 
too willing allies in the wicked men that are 
with him ; meanwhile, the believer in Christ 
will overcome, " by the blood of the Lamb 
and the word of his testimony." He will, he 
must, if faithful, overcome. That triumphant 
song has been ringing adown the ages : " Who 
shall separate us from the love of Christ ? 
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, 
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
. . . Nay, in all these things we are more 
than conquerors, through him that loved us. 
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of 
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And 
the victor, Christ Jesus, sends down all along 
the line of his armies, and all along the centu- 
ries, the cheering proclamation, " Be thou 
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life T 



" A mighty fortress is our God, 

A bulwark never failing : 
Our Helper he, amid the flood 

Of mortal ills prevailing. 
For still our ancient foe 
Doth seek to work us woe ; 
His craft and power are great, 
And, armed with cruel hate, 

On earth is not his equal. 

" Did we in our own strength confide, 

Our striving would be losing ; 
Were not the right man on our side, 

The man of God's own choosing. 
Dost ask who that may be ? 
Christ Jesus, it is he ; 
Lord Sabaoth is his name, 
From age to age the same, 

And he must win the battle. 

" And though this world, with devils filled, 

Should threaten to undo us, 
We will not fear, for God hath willed 

His truth to triumph through us. 
The Prince of darkness grim — 
We tremble not for him ; 
His rage we can endure, 
For lo ! his doom is sure, 

One little word shall fell him. 

" That word above all earthly powers — 

No thanks to them — abideth ; 
The Spirit and the gifts are ours 

Through Him who with us sideth. 
Let goods and kindred go, 
This mortal life also : 
The body they may kill : 
God's truth abideth still, 

His kingdom is forever." — Martin Luther. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 205 



CHAPTER X. 



DEMONOLOGY AND DEMONIACAL POSSESSIONS. 
1 7*ROM the earliest ages there have been 



persons who have claimed to be, or have 
been supposed to be, possessed of a superhu- 
man, or supernatural, power to understand, or 
do, or cause to be done, what ordinary persons 
could not either know, or do. The names given 
to these persons have varied according to the 
age in which they have lived and the languages 
spoken by the people among whom they have 
exercised their arts or powers. Theyare spoken 
of in the Bible — which is the oldest record of 
their existence — as " wise men," " sorcerers," 
" magicians," " necromancers," " charmers," 
" soothsayers," " astrologers," " witches," " wiz- 
ards," persons having a " familiar spirit," " di- 
viners," " enchanters," " dreamers." By clas- 
sical writers they have been denominated 
*' Pythons " or " Pythonesses," " demons," " ge- 
nii," " dii," " satyrs," " fauns," "nymphs," etc. 
In more modern times, " in some parts of 
Great Britain and of Ireland 'fairies' are be- 




206 The Angels of God. 

lieved in and venerated. In Scotland, besides 
these, we hear of ' bogies,' 1 brownies,' and 
6 kelpies,' as names of certain superhuman be- 
ings dreaded by the superstitious. In Den- 
mark and Iceland we hear of 1 trolls ; ' in 
Germany of ' nixes,' and many other such 
beings, who are supposed to have power in 
human affairs."* In this country they have 
been called " fortune-tellers," " witches," and 
" mediums." Then, too, we often read and 
hear of ghosts, apparitions, spirits, which have 
appeared to men in various forms, and which 
have communicated with them upon various 
subjects. 

In ancient times it was the pleasure of kings, 
governors, and rulers, and they thought it was 
for their profit also, to have present at their 
courts, for consultation, a number of such per- 
sons. So Pharaoh had them in Egypt in the 
days of Moses, and they imitated some of his 
miraculous works, and endeavored to destroy 
their effect upon the monarch's mind, until 
they were confounded and overcome. So with 
Nebuchadnezzar in the days of Daniel, and 
Sergius Paulus in the time of Paul. And, in- 

* Whately, p. 86. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 207 

deed, all ancient history has frequent refer- 
ences to them. These persons were thought 
to have great power in forecasting future 
events, in communing with the dead, in inter- 
preting dreams, in giving advice in business 
matters, in the result of wars, and in all things 
connected with human affairs. 

The Scriptures recognize the existence and 
operations of these persons, but they are always 
spoken of as " lying spirits/' condemned to 
destruction, and God's people are always 
warned against them. Dr. A. Clarke, in his 
comments on Exodus xxii, 18, " Thou shalt not 
suffer a witch to live," says : " From the se- 
verity of this law against witches, etc., we may 
see in what light these were viewed by divine 
justice. They were seducers of the people 
from their allegiance to God, on whose judg- 
ment alone they should depend ; and by impi- 
ously prying into futurity, assumed an attri- 
bute of God, the foretelling of future events, 
which implied in itself the grossest blasphemy, 
and tended to corrupt the minds of the people 
by leading them away from God and the rev- 
elation he had made of himself. Many of the 
Israelites had, no doubt, learned these curious 



208 The Angels of God, 

arts from their long residence with the Egyp- 
tians ; and so much were the Israelites attached 
to them, that we find such arts in repute 
among them, and various practices of this kind 
prevailed through the whole of the Jewish his- 
tory, notwithstanding the offense was capital, 
and in all cases punished with death." 

With almost equal clearness the classical 
writers allude to them. In Homer the word 
daemon is used interchangeably with theos. 
Hesiod presents these daemons before us as a 
class of beings intermediate between the gods 
and men, who communicate with both. They 
were, in some instances, thought to be tutelary 
divinities, watching over the affairs of certain 
persons. Such was the daemon of Socrates, so 
often referred to. " This," he said, " gives me 
notice every morning of any evil which will 
befall me that day." And when condemned 
to death by his judges he replied, " My daemon 
did not give me notice this morning of any 
evil that was to befall me this day. Therefore 
I cannot regard as an evil my being con- 
demned to die." Plato says, " Every daemon 
is a middle being, between god and mortal." 
Plutarch teaches that daemons were of two 



Dcmonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 209 

kinds; the one has the souls of good men, 
which, upon their departure from the body, 
were called heroes, were afterward raised to 
the rank of daemons, and subsequently to that 
of gods. These were spoken of in a good and 
in a bad sense, as good or evil beings. Thus 
the words angels and daemons are often used 
indiscriminately. Plutarch further says : " It 
is a very ancient opinion that there are certain 
wicked or malignant daemons, which envy good 
men, and endeavor to hinder them in the pur- 
suit of virtue, lest they should be partakers of 
greater happiness than they enjoy." Bishop 
Newton tells us that this was the opinion of all 
the later philosophers ; and Plutarch affirms it 
of all the ancient ones. Josephus always uses 
the words " evil spirits/' while Philo regards 
the word daemon as referring to both good and 
evil spirits."* 

From all these statements, then, there can 
be no doubt of the almost universal belief in 
the existence of these beings. Heathen and 
Jewish as well as Christian writers bear their 
testimony to this fact. Xor, further, can there 
be any doubt that men and women have pro- 

* M'Clintock and Strong, "Cyclopaedia," in loco. 
14 



210 The Angels of God. 

fessed to be and to act under their influence, as 
the witch of Endor, Socrates, and, in very 
modern times, spirit-mediums. 

It is readily admitted that certain phenom- 
ena connected with these persons and their 
operations, who are professedly under the 
influence of demons — whether in a good or 
bad sense — are beyond our ken, and that we 
are incapable of always giving a satisfactory 
explanation of them. At the same time we 
must believe that, in most instances, they have 
an evil origin. 

The great purpose of most of these mani- 
festations is, evidently, to imitate or counter- 
feit the work and worship of the living and 
true God in this world. Did God work won- 
ders and miracles before the nations? These 
demons, under the control of their great lead- 
er, endeavored to do the same things by leger- 
demain, trickery, etc., in order to destroy their 
effects upon the minds of men. Did God in- 
spire his prophets, and reveal to them the things 
which were to come? They wrought their 
votaries into a sort of frenzy, which they called 
" afflatus," and pretended to foretell future 
events, and to give forth the will of the gods. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 2 1 1 

Did God give the ''lively oracles?" They, 
also, had their oracles at Delphi, or Daphne, 
where the 

" Nightly trance, or breathed spell, 
Inspired the pale-eyed priest in his prophetic cell." 

Did God proclaim that he alone was to be 
worshiped as Jehovah, the only living and true 
God? They taught and influenced men to 
worship them, under the names of various hea- 
then divinities. 

And so, in these last days, which have been 
periods of especial spiritual power and influ- 
ence, these demons have been especially busy 
in what are called " the phenomena of modern 
spiritualism, " one of their latest and most ef- 
fective devices for the deception and ruin of 
immortal souls. Thus in every place, and in 
every age, they have been employed in oppo- 
sition to God the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost. Perhaps the last manifestation 
of their presence and power will be in " the 
man of sin," " the son of perdition," the per- 
sonification of Satan himself, in some great 
papal or antichristian power, which shall for 
awhile deceive, in order to destroy, the nations 



212 The Angels of God. 

before the time of the end shall come. We 
would not dogmatize upon this point ; but it 
is well known that very many of our most 
learned expositors have regarded that this is 
the only proper interpretation of 2 Thess. ii, 
3-12. It seems clear to our own mind that 
the powers of darkness are preparing for the 
great and final conflict with the Church of 
God ; perhaps the most fearful that the world 
has ever witnessed. Of its nature and contin- 
uance, we have no special information ; of the 
fact of its on-coming, there can be no doubt ; 
and of its results, we are assured that they will 
be triumphant and glorious for the Church of 
God. The great conflict of the ages is evi- 
dently drawing toward a close. In the very 
nature of the case, it cannot last a great while 
longer. All events seem to be converging 
toward this point. All heaven is preparing for 
it. All the powers of hell are getting ready to 
engage in it. It is not impossible, but rather 
probable, that demoniacal possessions and 
agencies will be more actively and visibly em- 
ployed in this strife than at any period since 
the advent of Christ ; and their power over the 
elements of nature, as well as over the souls 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 2 1 3 

and bodies of men and women, will be more 
directly and manifestly displayed. 

We have now to deal more directly with the 
great question of demoniacal possessions, as 
spoken of in the New Testament. 

This subject is one of the deepest interest, 
affecting, as it does, the truth of the gospel 
narrative, and illustrating some of its most re- 
markable phenomena. The credibility of the 
historic truth of the Gospels is largely at stake 
in the settlement of this question. They can- 
not be proven false and yet its other records 
remain true. If the record concerning these 
possessions is false, all is false. Christ and his 
evangelists, in the most positive words and in 
various places, assert directly and indirectly 
this fact ; and if they taught what was false in 
this instance, their statements are unworthy of 
credence in all others. The original words 
employed by the sacred writers and by Christ 
in speaking of them are : " Daimones ; " " Dai- 
monia;" " Pneumata Ponera ; M " Pneumata 
Akatharta ; " and the prime leader, or prince 
of them all, as we have seen, is " Diabolos," or 
" Satanas." 

It has been supposed by some that the 



214 The Angels of God. 

Saviour and his apostles merely conformed to 
the popular representations of the times in 
speaking of the existence and possessions of 
demons, and in their efforts to cast them out. 
The reply to this is simply that they always 
speak of demons as a reality, and of demoni- 
acal possessions as a fact ; not merely casually 
or incidentally, but formally and directly. Is 
it at all probable that our Lord, who on all occa- 
sions endeavored to overthrow the popular su- 
perstitions of the Jews, would, in this instance, 
do what would encourage a lying superstition ? 
On this point Trench, in his valuable work on 
the miracles of our Lord, says, " Had not the 
moral interests at stake been so transcendent, 
our idea of Christ's absolute veracity, apart 
from the value of the truth which he commu- 
nicated, forbids us to suppose that he could 
have spoken as he did, being perfectly aware 
all the while that there was no corresponding 
reality to justify the language which he used. 
... It would have been quite a different thing 
for the Lord to have fallen in with the popular 
language, and to have spoken of persons under 
various natural afflictions as 6 possessed/ sup- 
posing he had found such a language current, 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions, 2 1 5 

but now no longer, however it might once have 
been, vividly linked to the idea of possession by 
spirits of evil. In this there had been nothing 
more than in our speaking of certain forms of 
madness as lunacy.. . . . But suppose, with this 
same disbelief in lunar influences, we were to 
begin to speak not merely of lunatics, but of 
persons on whom the moon was working, to 
describe the cure of such as the ceasing of 
the moon to afflict them — the physician 
to promise his patient that the moon should 
not harm him any more — would not this be 
quite another matter, a direct countenancing 
of error and delusion ? Would there not here 
be that absence of agreement between thoughts 
and words, in which the essence of a lie con- 
sists ? Now r Christ does every-where speak in 
such a language as this. Take, for instance, his 
words in Luke xi, 17-26, and assume him to 
have known, all the while he was thus speaking, 
that the whole Jewish belief of demoniac pos- 
sessions was utterly baseless, that Satan exer- 
cised no such power over the bodies or spirits 
of men, and what should we have here for a 
King of truth ?"* 

* Trench, p. 119. 



2l6 



The Angels of God. 



In like manner, Whately, in his work on 
"Good and Evil Angels," (pages 107, 108,) 
says : " And if such a connivance at religious 
error can be in any case justifiable, in this, at 
least, it would have been most completely in- 
excusable. It would not have even the i ty- 
rant's plea — necessity/ in its favor. For, sup- 
posing the Jews ever so much wedded to their 
belief in demoniacal possessions, and to have 
been disposed to reject with scorn any one who 
should have merely told them that those pa- 
tients whom they supposed to be possessed 
were not so, and that the popular position was 
all a delusion — supposing this — still, if any one 
who gave them such an assurance did, at the 
same time, cure those very patients, every one 
would have readily believed him. The con- 
nivance, therefore, at superstitious error, the 
confirmation and propagation of religious delu- 
sion, which these interpreters impute to Jesus 
and his followers, would have been one of the 
most gratuitous and most inexcusable of all 
the ' pious frauds ' that ever were committed. 
And if there are any persons who, on careful 
examination and deliberate reflection, feel con- 
vinced that Jesus did thus lend himself to pop- 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 217 

ular superstition, without even any apparent 
necessity, and who yet regard his conduct as 
justifiable, and profess to venerate him as 1 a 
Teacher sent from God/ what can we think 
of their moral principles ? And what assur- 
ance can w 7 e have of the sincerity of their own 
belief on any point ? The instance of the de- 
moniac at Gadara may be regarded as a test 
case. Three of the evangelists distinctly re- 
cord it, and all declare that the man was pos- 
sessed with demons. True, St. Matthew 
speaks of two demoniacs, w r hile St. Mark and 
St. Luke only speak of one. Various reasons 
have been given for this. It may be, as in the 
case of the healing of the blind men, one evan- 
gelist speaks of two, and another of one, prob- 
ably because one was the principal spokesman. 
Or, one may have been more notable than the 
other, as St. Augustine supposes. Or, one may 
have been fiercer than the other, as others 
have thought. For one cause or another one 
only looms up before us with fearful and fright- 
ful distinctness, as we read of the effects pro- 
duced by his being possessed with a demon or 
a legion of them. And to show that it was 
a real case of demoniacal possession, and noth- 



21 8 The Angels of God. 

ing else, the demons, when they were cast out, 
were permitted to go into the herd of swine, 
which, under their influence, ' ran violently 
down a steep place into the lake,' and were 
drowned. And not only so. Jesus com- 
manded the dispossessed man to go and de- 
clare throughout his country 1 how great 
things God had done for him.' " Again he 
says, (Whately, page 112,) Cl So, this man was 
expressly charged by Jesus to go about report- 
ing what would have been, supposing there 
was no such thing as demoniacal possession, 
a falsehood, known to be such by the Person 
who commissioned him." 

2. The opinion that what are called demo- 
niacal possessions were only certain forms of 
diseases, has no better foundation. How, 
indeed, such an opinion could be entertained, 
in the face of the abundant testimony to 
the contrary, is one of the mysteries of the 
power of unbelief which remains as yet un- 
solved. As if for the very purpose of dispos- 
ing of this objection, a clear distinction is made 
in the Gospels between the two conditions. In 
Mark i, 32, it is said, " They brought unto 
him all that were diseased, and them that were 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 2 1 9 

possessed with devils." Again, in his great 
commission to his apostles, the Saviour says 
to them, " These signs shall follow them that 
believe : in my name shall they cast out devils 
— they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall 
recover." Mark xvi, 17, 18. Again, we read 
in Luke vi, 17, 18, "A great multitude of peo- 
ple, out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from 
the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came 
to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases ; 
and they that were vexed with unclean spirits: 
and they were healed." Still more decisive is 
the passage in Matthew iv, 24: " And they 
brought unto him all sick people that were taken 
with divers diseases and torments, and those 
which were possessed with devils, and those 
which zvere lunatic, and those that had the 
palsy, and he healed them." Here are sick, 
diseased, palsied, and possessed persons ; but 
each class distinctly separated from the other. 

It is, of course, readily admitted that there 
was, ordinarily, bodily disease or infirmity as- 
sociated with the demoniacal possession, such 
as blindness, dumbness, epilepsy, symptoms 
of insanity. But back of all these, and in some 
instances directly occasioning these conditions, 



220 The A ngels o f God. 

and intensifying them when they were in act- 
ual existence, was the fact of this possession. 

3. Another class of interpreters tell us that 
the persons referred to merely imagined that 
they were possessed, and that when they acted 
or spoke they were anxious to make the im- 
pression that they were under the power of 
some evil spirit. Hence the heathen Lucian 
says, " The patient is silent ; the demon re- 
turns the answers to the questions that are 
asked." All this might well harmonize with 
the teachings of heathenism, but fails to meet 
the case of the New Testament accounts. 
There demons do speak through those whom 
they possess, it is true ; but mark what they 
say in several instances. They say that they 
know Christ. And they do not speak of him, 
as the enlightened Jews would do, as " the 
Son of David," but they call him " the Son of 
God," " the Holy One of God." Now, accord- 
ing to the theory we are combating, these im- 
aginary, insane, diseased persons, knew more 
about Christ than the greater, and even 
better, part of their countrymen, or else it 
charges that the evangelists are guilty of 
the most deliberate and audacious falsehood. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 221 

" Furthermore, our Lord every-where speaks 
of demoniacs, not as persons merely of disor- 
dered intellects, [or imaginary beings,] but as 
subjects and thralls of an alien spiritual might. 
He addresses the evil spirits as distinct from 
the man : ' Hold thy peace, and come out of 
him.' Mark i, 25. And the unworthy reply 
that he fell in with the notions of the afflicted, 
and humored them in order to facilitate their 
cure, is anticipated by the fact that in his most 
confidential discourses with his disciples he 
uses exactly the same language. Matt, x, 8, 
and especially Matt, xvii, 21, ' This kind goeth 
not out but by prayer and fasting.' " * 

4. But it is not at all improbable that many 
of these cases had been brought under the 
power of the diseases or the lunacy which they 
suffered, and to the demoniacal possession 
which they consciously endured, by the indul- 
gence in evil principles, passions, or pursuits. 
" Lavish sin, and especially indulgence in sen- 
sual lusts, superinducing, as it would often, a 
weakness in the nervous system, which is the 
especial bond between body and soul, may 
have laid open these unhappy ones to the fear- 

* Trench, p. 11S. 



222 



The Angels of God. 



ful incursions of the powers of darkness."* 
Judas by his covetousness had prepared his 
soul for the entrance of the demon who took 
possession of him, soul and body, so that he 
committed the greatest crime, under this influ- 
ence, which man has ever been guilty of. So 
with Ananias and Sapphira. Their covetous- 
ness had so blinded them that they were readily 
taken possession of by the demon, and driven 
headlong to destruction. 

5. What, then, does this demoniacal possession 
mean ? It is evident, from what we have al- 
ready considered, that if we would believe the 
Gospel we must unhesitatingly accept the fact 
of these possessions. And as to the character. 
of these possessions we are not left in doubt. It 
was the entrance into, and control of, men and 
women by evil spirits, evil in their character, 
superior in their intelligence and power to men, 
and which, having entered into men, employed 
all their power to effect their destruction, both 
body and soul. Physical disorders, mental de- 
rangements, and lunacy were not only the re- 
sults of such possessions, but these effects were 
distinctly traceable to their agency. Having, 

* Trench, p. 160. 



Dcmonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 223 

one or more of them, entered into a man, they 
assumed absolute control of him. They gave 
him, at times, superhuman strength ; they tore 
him, vexed and tormented him, spoke through 
him words, and even truths, which he would 
not and could not have uttered of himself. In 
some instances the poor victims were conscious 
of this possession, and at times would sigh 
and groan for deliverance. In other instances 
they have voluntarily admitted them, and vol- 
untarily retained them. In one instance, that 
of Mary [Magdalene, we read of seven devils 
which had been cast out of her ; and in another 
a whole legion of devils was cast out. Of the 
possibility of such possession there can be no 
doubt. There is no greater difficulty in believ- 
ing in evil spirits than there is in believing in 
evil men. We know that evil men do influence 
and control others, as we have already seen in 
these pages ; and there is no greater difficulty 
in believing that evil spirits actuate and influ- 
ence wicked men to do evil and wrong. 

There can be little doubt that such posses- 
sions were more frequently manifested during 
our Saviour's incarnation and public life than 
at any former or subsequent period. " The 



224 The Angels of God. 

period of our Lord's being on earth was cer- 
tainly, more than any other in the history of 
the world, under the dominion of evil. The 
foundations of man's moral being were broken 
up, and the hour and power of darkness i pre- 
vailing.' It was exactly the crisis for such 
soul-maladies as these, in which the spiritual 
and bodily should be thus strangely interlinked ; 
and it is nothing wonderful that they should 
have abounded at that time ; for the predomi- 
nance of certain spiritual maladies, at certain 
epochs of the world's history, which were spe- 
cially fitted for their generation, with their 
gradual decline and disappearance in others 
less congenial to them, is a fact itself admitting 
no manner of question." * 

Again : " It was but natural that the power 
of evil should show itself in more open and 
direct hostility than ever in the age of our 
Lord and his apostles, when its time was 
short. It was natural, also, that it should 
take the special form of possession in an 
age of such unprecedented and brutal sensu- 
ality as that which preceded his coming, and 
continued till the leaven of Christianity was 
* Alford, pp. 86, 87. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 225 

felt. Xor was it less natural that it should 
have died away gradually before the great di- 
rect, and still greater indirect, influence of 
Christ's kingdom. The early fathers allude 
to its existence, and dwell on the power 
of Christian exorcism to cast it out from 
the country as a test of the truth of the Gos- 
pel, and as one well-known benefit which it 
conferred on the empire/' * 

Let it not be forgotten that these poor de- 
monized creatures were not always the worst 
of men. Sometimes, as we read, even children 
were thus possessed. And then, in the case 
of adults, there were manv who had involun- 
tarily become thus possessed. " We all feel 
that Judas's possession, when Satan entered 
into him, (John xiii, 27,) was specifically differ- 
ent from that of one of the unhappy persons 
who were the subjects of Christ's healing 
power. Or, to borrow an illustration from the 
world of fiction, none would speak of Iago as 
daiuovi^ouevoc, however all the deadly malignity 
of hell was concentrated in him ; we should 
trace much closer analogies to this state in 
some aspects of Hamlet's life. Thus, too, in 
* M'Clintock and Strong, in loco. 

16 



226 The Angels of God. 

actual life, the horror and deep anguish of a 
sinner at the contemplation of his sin, may 
have helped on this overthrow of his spiritual 
life ; anguish which a more hardened sinner 
would have escaped, but escaped it only 
by being a worse and more truly devilish 
man. We are not, then, to see in these cases 
of possession the deliberate giving in to the 
Satanic will of an utterly lost soul, but the still 
recoverable wreck of what might once have 
been a noble spirit." * 

The question often arises, Why are not these 
demoniacal possessions witnessed at the pres- 
ent day' But in the very way in which the 
question is asked, it is assumed that they are not 
seen in these days : an admission which we are 
very far from making. In the very common 
language of the day, how often do we hear 
men speak of the demon of lust, of jealousy, 
revenge, hate, malice, covetousness, murder, 
and rage, which actuates men to certain wicked 
or unholy deeds ? The common consciousness 
of mankind regards this as essentially true, and 
so men speak of it in all languages. True, 
they often do it in the way of personification ; 

* Trench on M Miracles," p. 123. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions. 227 

but this is done in such a manner as to show 
that the evil principle personified has an evil 
spirit for its cause. And do not men now ex- 
hibit in their minds, their bodies, and their ac- 
tions the results of such possession ? Do not 
many bear on their brow, in their eyes, and in 
their countenance, the evidence of the demon, 
or demons, which dwell within them and con- 
trol them ? And would men act as they often 
do, were it not for such possession ? We must 
believe that men are now, in many instances, 
just as actually, and just as fearfully, under 
the power of demoniacal possession as at any 
former period of the world's history. Do we 
not see this in the fearful cases of delirium 
tremens which, alas ! occur so frequently in 
this age of inebriety ? Is not the poor victim 
as much under the possession of the demon as 
any whom Christ healed? And just as there 
was in the possessed in the time of Christ a 
" double consciousness," so there is in these 
cases. Trench quotes Bright and Addison, 
two eminent authorities on the practice of 
medicine, to confirm this. " In accesses of 
delirium tremens, the penalty of excessive in- 
dulgence in intoxicating drinks, we find some- 



228 The Angels of God. 

thing analogous to this double consciousness. 
The victim of this, in his most tranquil and 
collected moments, is not to be trusted, for the 
transition from this state to the greatest vio- 
lence is instantaneous; he is often recalled by 
a word to an apparent state of reason, but as 
quickly his false impressions return ; there is 
sometimes evidence at the time of a state of 
double consciousness, a condition of mind which 
is sometimes remembered by the patient when 
the paroxysm is over."* 

And does not " the god of this world now 
blind the minds of them which believe not?" 
Are not Satan and his angels now " trans- 
formed into angels of light " in order to deceive 
and destroy? Are not demons inciting now 
to murder, suicide, lust, and lies, as well as at 
former periods? Most assuredly they are. 

One of the great methods of Satan's opera- 
tions in this world has been to conceal himself 
and the demons acting under his control, and 
to make men doubt, and even deny, his exist- 
ence, and to attribute all the effects of his 
operations to purely natural causes, or to make 
the impression that they are the work of God. 

* Trench, p. 125. 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions, 229 

Hence, in many instances, while men have 
been acting under his power, and have been 
led captive by him at his will, they have stout- 
ly denied his very existence. So carefully has 
he concealed his presence, and the chains by 
which his captives are bound. So Whately 
says, " This is just what one would naturally 
expect, that an insidious and crafty adversary, 
such as Satan is represented in Scripture, 
should endeavor to throw men off their guard ; 
first, by inducing them, if possible, to disbe- 
lieve his existence altogether— to explain away, 
as mere figures of speech, all the declarations 
of Scripture on the subject, and to flatter them- 
selves that they have no such enemy to con- 
tend against ; and, in the next place, by lead- 
ing those who do believe in his existence, to 
mistake the character of their danger — to be 
alarmed in the wrong place, and to be least 
apprehensive precisely where there is the most 
occasion for it ; when he ' transforms himself in- 
to an angel of light/ that is when he conceals 
his real approaches, and disguises the char- 
acter of the temptation offered." * 

When men wish to deceive, to rob, to de- 

* Whately, p. 150, et seq. 



230 The Angels of God. 

fraud, to He, they do not assume their true, 
their real character. They always strive to 
appear to be what they are not ; to conceal 
their deep and dark designs. If they showed 
themselves in their true light we should be on 
our guard — we should defend ourselves ; but 
in their false or hypocritical garb we are often 
deceived and injured ; and many are worried 
and destroyed. So Satan and his angels oper- 
ate upon human minds and hearts ; concealing 
their real persons and purposes, and gilding 
their bait, making men even to believe ofttimes 
that they are their best friends, while, in real- 
ity, they are their most deadly enemies. Both 
Martin Luther and John Wesley regard the 
presence and power of these demons, in the 
various sicknesses, accidents, elements of na- * 
ture, in lunacy, and, indeed, in all the ills to 
which " flesh is heir." Perhaps this may be 
going to the opposite extreme. But we can- 
not be too deeply impressed with the fact of 
their presence, and of the constant exercise 
of their baneful influence. At the same time, 
we should " refer nothing to their agency that 
could not be proved to be actually their work." 
If we attempt to prove too much the argument 



Demonology and Demoniacal Possessions, 231 

is weakened. This was Calvin's view, and with 
this we heartily agree. 

Let us urge, as we close this chapter, that 
with such an array of demoniacal agencies 
around us, we have need for constant watch- 
fulness and prayer. No one but God can en- 
able us to overcome ; but we may be, if faithful 
to him, "more than conquerors, through Him 
who hath loved us." 



232 



The Angels of God. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE WORSHIP OF ANGELS. 

A MONG the many things against which 
^ ^ St. Paul cautioned the Colossians was, 
"the worshiping of angels." It has been sup- 
posed that " some Alexandrian Jew had ap- 
peared at Colossse, professing a belief in Chris- 
tianity, and imbued with the Greek philosophy 
of the school of Philo, but combining with it 
the rabbinical theosophy and angelology which 
afterward was embodied in the Kabala, and an 
extravagant asceticism, w T hich also, afterward, 
distinguished several sects of the Gnostics. In 
short, one of the first heresiarchs of the incipi- 
ent Gnosticism had begun to pervert the Colos- 
sians from the simplicity of their faith. There 
w r as great danger to be apprehended from this 
source, at the stage which the Church had 
now reached ; especially in a Church w T hich 
consisted, as that of Colossae did, principally 
of Gentiles ; and that, too, in Phrygia, where 
the national character was so prone to a mystic 
fanaticism, We need not wonder, therefore, 



The Worship of Angels. 233 

that St. Paul, acting under the inspiration of 
the Holy Spirit, should have thought it need- 
ful to use every effort to counteract the grow- 
ing evil." * 

This custom was prevalent before the intro- 
duction of Christianity, not only among the 
Jewish people, but also among the heathen. 
Among the Jewish people, especially, it pre- 
vailed extensively, and tended greatly to that 
corruption of religion which was manifest at 
the coming of Christ. It was an outgrowth 
of idolatrous worship, and, indeed, was a part 
of that system of evil designed to draw men 
away from the worship of the true God. 
Hesiod, in his account of the " Five Ages" — 
the " golden, silver, brazen, heroic, and iron 
aees " — refers to the various forms in which 
this worship was regarded and performed. 
Herodotus, the most ancient Grecian historian, 
also speaks of this corruption of doctrine in 
giving an account of the Egyptian priesthood 
and religion. " The Jewish perversions of this 
doctrine of angels were very deplorable, incor- 
porating many of the heathen corruptions with 
the facts contained in the oracles of God. 

* Conybeare and Howson, vol. ii, p. 383. 



234 The Angels of God. 

They supposed the whole angelical creation to 
be organized under ten denominations, which 
they give as Chaioth-Hakkodesh, Ophanim, 
Esellim, Chasmalim, Seraphim, Melachim, Elo- 
him, Beni-Elohim, Cherubim, latum/' Here 
we give a few specimens of the "old wives' 
fables" held by that people. The first is an 
account given by Mr. Allen, in his book on 
"Cherished Traditions." "As a specimen of 
rabbinical angelology, I shall transcribe part 
of the account given of the first, or lowest, of 
the seven firmaments contained in the celes- 
tial regions, that region being represented as 
the least populous. It is denominated 1 The 
Heavens/ and is affirmed to be the residence 
of seven archangels : Ophaniel, having under 
him seventy-one angels; Thagra, seventy-four; 
Daudaeel, thirty-six; Gadalmijah, forty-six; 
Assimur, fifty-eight ; Pascar, thirty-five ; Boel, 
forty. And so on they proceed through all 
the firmaments." 

That the Jews actually worshiped angels "is 
evident," Dr. Gill says, "from their liturgies, 
or prayer-books, where they say, 1 O ye angels 
of mercies;' or, 'Ye holy angels, ministers of 
the Most High, entreat now the face of God 



The Worship of Angels. 235 

for good/ Elsewhere, they say, ' Let Juhach 
keep us, let Juhach deliver us, and Juhach 
help us/ This was the name of the angel 
who, they supposed, had the care of men. 
They also speak of Sandalphos, who, they say, 
is appointed over the prayers of the righteous/' 

To these Jewish superstitions, referred to 
by the apostle, and also by Irenaeus, Origen, 
Tertullian, Epiphanius, and others of the early 
fathers, succeeded the errors of the Gnostics. 
And in the fourth century there were " those 
who directly worshiped angels, and had private 
meetings for that purpose. They w r ere ex- 
pressly condemned by the thirty-fifth canon 
of the Council of Laodicea ; wherein that coun- 
cil adjudged this practice to be idolatry, and 
apostasy from Jesus Christ!' 

From this source the Roman Catholic 
Church has derived its speculations — adora- 
tion, worship, and invocation of angels. They 
regard them, as did the ancient Jews, as media- 
tors between God and men, and worship them 
as they do the saints and the Virgin Mary, thus 
justly deserving the name of an idolatrous 
hierarchy. Many of them, however, endeavor 
to escape from the force of this charge by mak- 



236 The Angels of God. 

ing a difference between dulia, or worship in- 
ferior to that which is divine, and latria, which 
was used by Magus and his followers. Cardi- 
nal Bellarmine, that astute Romanist, labors 
to make this distinction. But when the apos- 
tle forbade the worshiping of angels, we believe 
that he included all worshiping of them, 
whether latria or dulia. * 

When Saint John saw and heard " the 
things " which he records in Rev. xxii, over- 
whelmed with wonder and surprise, he " fell 
down to worship before the feet of the angel 
which showed them to him." At once he met 
with the stern rebuke : " See thou do it not : 
for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy breth- 
ren the prophets, and of them which keep the 
sayings of this book ; worship God." This is 
the great law of the Church for all the ages. 
God will not permit any creature to be wor- 
shiped in any form. From the earliest ages, 
by the plainest enactments, enforced by the 
most momentous sanctions and guarded by all 
the power of his throne, he has proclaimed that 
He alone is to be worshiped and adored. And 
woe to any one or any hierarchy that would 
* Vide Timpson, pp. 29-39. 



The Worship of Angels. 237 

attempt, in any form, to rob him of the glory 
due to his name ! All the heavenly host wor- 
ship him ; angel and archangel, seraphim and 
cherubim, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and 
martyrs. The saints of all the ages adore him. 
Nor is there any rank in all the heavenly throng 
that would allow themselves to be worshiped. 
It has remained for the corrupt, apostate Ro- 
man Church, " the mother of harlots and 
abominations of the earth," to practice this 
idolatrous worship, which is offensive to Heav- 
en, and which, with her other abominations, 
sooner or later will bring down upon her the 
consuming fire of God's righteous vengeance. 



238 The Angels of God. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS EVIDENCE OF A 



HATEVER doubts may be entertained 



by us as to the habitation of other worlds 
by races of beings, intelligent and immortal, 
adapted to live under the peculiar conditions 
of temperature, climate, and atmosphere which 
astronomers tell us prevail in those worlds, 
there can be no doubt in the mind of any be- 
liever in the existence of angels, that there is 
another world, another clime, where the angels 
dwell. And that world must be one of purity, 
blessedness, glory, and joy, where old age, 
sickness, sorrow, and death never enter, and 
tears are all wiped away. Under the Old 
Testament dispensation, when the knowledge 
of a future state was comparatively dim and 
shadowy, how vivid and how strong must have 
been the impression made upon the minds of 
the Jewish people, and, through them, upon 
their descendants, and upon the surrounding 
nations which would hear of these things, by 



FUTURE STATE. 




Existence of Angels proves a Future State. 239 

the appearances of these messengers of light 
and glory from time to time among them ! 

The great fact was not only thus revealed to 
them of the existence of another world, but 
other facts, cognate to this, that that world 
is in some w r ay linked to this ; that its inhabit- 
ants have great interest in this world ; that 
they are employed to bring messages from 
that world to this ; and that when they had 
thus done, they ascended up again to the place 
whence they came. Perhaps the clearest, if 
not the earliest, revelation of this was made 
known to Jacob as he lay sleeping upon his 
stony pillow, while he saw, in his vision, that 
wonderful ladder, " set up on the earth, and 
the top of it reached to heaven, and the angels 
of God ascending and descending upon it." 
Here the connection between heaven and earth 
was made manifest, and the ministrations 
and visitations of angels distinctly revealed. 

This vision, occurring as it did, so early in 
the history of the race, must not only have 
profoundly impressed the patriarch and his im- 
mediate descendants, but, also, every succes- 
sive generation of the Jewish people. Nor did 
this instance stand alone. It was confirmed 



2 ad The Angels of God. 

by all those appearances to which reference 
has been made in the previous chapters of this 
book. 

There was no angel, seen by patriarch or 
prophet, in vision or in human form, actually 
conversing with men or women, or flying with 
lightning swiftness from heaven to earth, but 
who declared by his presence here among men, 
u there is another world, there is another state 
of being, above this, beyond this, and essen- 
tially differing from this. " We have no means 
*of knowing precisely how far these angelic 
visitations influenced the minds of the Jewish 
people upon the great questions of a future life. 
Nor would we intimate, by any means, that 
this was the only, or even the principal, evi- 
dence which they had of the future life. For, 
next to the grand idea of the existence of a 
personal God, their religion was founded up- 
on the idea of the personal existence of man, 
and the immortal future of that existence. It 
w r as, indeed, a meaningless system without 
these two great factors. We have no sympathy 
with that class of thinkers and writers, who 
affirm that the Old Testament saints, and the 
Jewish people at large, had but little, if any, 



Existence of Angels proves a Future State, 241 

idea of a future state. This is argued by some 
persons because the Scriptures of the Old Tes- 
tament say so little directly about that future 
life. To this it is sufficient to reply, that they 
no more attempted to prove this fact than they 
did that of the existence of God. These two 
great postulates were axiomatic with them ; as 
such they accepted them, believed them, re- 
joiced on account of them, and died in full con- 
fidence of a future state. It does not fall within 
the range of this volume to present, formally, 
the arguments for this position. These are 
ample, and, we think, perfectly conclusive. 

But, believing, as they evidently did, in that 
future world and life, how strongly was their 
faith confirmed when they saw those heavenly 
messengers appearing for their instruction, for 
their guidance, for their defense^ for their com- 
fort, and in all these things acting under the 
divine command and with divine power and 
authority. Here were visible and tangible 
evidences of the existence of that world for 
which they hoped, and in anticipation of which, 
like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they " endured 
as seeing Him who is invisible." 

Not only so : it was this hope which made 
16 



242 The Angels of God. 

Moses " choose rather to suffer affliction with 
the people of God ; . . . for he had respect to the 
recompense of the reward/' All those ancient 
worthies died in, or according to, this faith. And 
not only by their life, but also by their death, they 
declared that they sought and expected a coun- 
try — that is, a heavenly. Their expectation was 
not, certainly, for the country from which they 
had come. If they had been mindful of that, 
they might have had frequent opportunity to 
return ; but now, in life and in death, they de- 
clared that they desired a better country, where 
the angels dwelt. They would never have 
wrought the wonders they did — wonders of 
faith — if it had not been for these divine inspi- 
rations coming from the life beyond the grave. 
They would never have endured such trials of 
cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and 
imprisonment ; to be stoned, sawn asunder, 
tempted, slain with the sword ; to wander in 
sheep-skins and goat-skins, being afflicted, des- 
titute, tormented. Paradise appeared to the 
vision of their faith as " Abraham's bosom/' 
where the angels bore the sainted of the earth, 
to suffer and to die no more. We are aware 
that it may be argued that the fact of angel- 



Existence of Angels proves a Future State. 243 

ical existence, and of the existence of another 
world where they dwell, may all be believed 
and known, and yet that it would by no means 
legitimately follow that men and women from 
this world, evidently of another race, and ex- 
isting under vastly different conditions, would 
ever be dwellers in that world, or partakers of 
its immortality of existence and blessedness. 
All this would, perhaps, be true if this were an 
isolated fact, disconnected from other cognate 
facts which declare the truth of man's immor- 
tality, while angelical existences in another 
state of being; from this only confirm them. 
True, it is no evidence that we shall exist in 
the heavenly world forever because the angels 
dwell there forever. But when God reveals in 
his word that their dwelling-place may be ours, 
and that their companionship may be enjoyed 
by us forever, then all becomes clear to us, and 
the undoubted fact of their existence, and of 
their manifestation in visible forms, confirms 
our hopes and heightens our joys. 

It may not be foreign, but even germane, to 
this line of thought, to say that the Old Testa- 
ment saints, in addition to the evidence already 
referred to, had two visible demonstrations that 



244 



The Angels of God. 



men, human beings, might ascend to that world 
where the angels dwell. The one was in the 
very dim twilight of the patriarchal dispensa- 
tion, the other amid the full blaze of the glory 
of the prophetical. We refer to the trans- 
lations of Enoch and Elijah. Very true, we do 
not know the particulars of the translation of 
Enoch. No word has come down to us of the 
manner in which God took him. We do know 
something of the life which he lived ; how he 
walked with God ; how he had the testimony 
that he pleased God ; how he maintained that 
walk for three hundred years ; how that all 
this was done amid the cares and trials of rear- 
ing and supporting his family ; and how that, 
after having lived thus, when he was three 
hundred and sixty-five years old, he " was 
translated that he should not see death." A 
brief obituary notice this ; but it contains a 
world of interest and import. We might 
gather, however, from the thought, that while 
there is an infinite diversity in God's plans 
and operations, there is also an essential unity 
in all ; and as the chariots and horses of fire 
came subsequently for Elijah, it is probable 
that they came first for Enoch. The design 



Existence of Angels proves a Future State. 245 

of God was, doubtless, to impress upon a rude 
and godless age the great truth that the man 
who walks with God is cared for and loved by 
him ; and also to show to men, in a visible form, 
the fact of the actual existence of another 
world to which God's faithful servant had been 
translated, and where others, who lived like 
him, might go. They could no longer, indeed, 
doubt the existence of that world, after they 
had seen the chariots and horses of fire bearing 
the deathless prophet to that eternal home. 

Then, again, amid the glories of the pro- 
phetical period, God deigns to give to idola- 
trous Israel, in the midst of its degeneracy 
and backslidings, when nearly the whole na- 
tion was wandering after Baal, another demon- 
stration of the existence of a future world. The 
circumstances connected with the translation 
of Elijah are related much more in detail than 
those connected with the translation of Enoch. 
For many a weary mile Elijah and Elisha had 
traveled on together. From Gilgal to Bethel, 
from Bethel to Jericho, from Jericho to the 
Jordan, and then across the mantle-smitten 
river. Standing together for a few mo- 
ments, not far from its banks, Elijah paused 



246 The Angels of God. 

to ask, " What shall I do for thee before I be 
taken away from thee ? " Elisha made a re- 
quest which it was difficult to gratify: " I pray 
thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon 
me." The narrative then states, " And it came 
to pass as they still went on, and talked, that 
behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and 
horses of fire, and parted them both asunder ; 
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, 
my father ! the chariots of Israel and the 
horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more." 
For three days some of the doubting ones 
scoured the mountains and plains near the 
Jordan, " but found him not." God had taken 
him, soul and body, to heaven, from whence 
he afterward came as a representative of the 
prophetical dispensation, to converse with Moses 
and with Christ concerning the decease which 
the latter was to accomplish in Jerusalem. 

Thus, by angelical appearances, and by the 
translation of the patriarch and the prophet, 
was the great truth of a future life kept before 
the minds of God's ancient people. And so 
correlated was the fact of the existence of an- 
gels with that of the immortality of the soul, 



Existence of Angels proves a Future State. 247 

that the Sadducees were only logical when, 
denying the resurrection, they denied also the 
existence of angel and spirit ; and the Phari- 
sees were equally logical when they confessed 
both. Acts xxiii, 8. The logical corollary 
would run, in the one instance, No angel — 
then there is no spirit, and no future state, 
and therefore no resurrection of the dead : 
and in the other, There are angels, there are 
spirits, therefore there will be a resurrection of 
the dead. It was against these Sadducees and 
skeptics that the Son of God employed the 
keenest blade of divine truth, showing them, 
where they least expected he could find it, the 
proof of the resurrection of the dead and of a 
conscious existence in another world, or state. 
" But as touching the resurrection of the dead, 
have ye not read that which was spoken unto 
you by God, saying, I am the God of Abra- 
ham, of Isaac, and of Jacob ? God is not the 
God of the dead, but of the living" And then 
with one stroke of that blade he penetrated 
the whole crust of their unbelief, laying open 
and bare to the sight of men the wondrous fact 
which he would proclaim : " Ye do err, not 
knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. 



248 The Angels of God. 

For in the resurrection they neither marry, 
nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels 
of God in heaven." 

Archbishop Whately has well said, " There 
were exhibited to the senses of men, (in a few 
instances,) created beings in many respects like 
men, in others more refined and elevated ; 
having a human form and speech, and some- 
thing of human affections, but without the 
grosser attributes of mortals. This served to 
form and keep up the idea, not only that man 
is not the highest of God's creatures, but, 
moreover, that there is a state of existence, 
exalted indeed and glorified beyond that in 
which we now are, yet not so utterly remote 
from our present condition but that we may 
conceive something resembling it to be re- 
served for us hereafter, and may be led to as- 
pirations for something higher and better than 
man's life on earth, and which yet shall not be 
inconsistent with our consciousness of per- 
sonal identity — with our being — and feeling 
ourselves to be — the same individuals. 

" The angels, in short, in their visits to this 
world of ours, gave man a glimpse of a higher 
and better world. They were specimens, so to 



Existence of Angels proves a Future State. 249 

speak, of what is to be found in the heavenly 
Canaan, our land of promise, answering- to 
those fruits which the spies, sent by Moses 
into Canaan, brought to the Israelites in the 
dreary and barren wilderness, in order to con- 
vince them of the goodness of that pleasant 
land, and to encourage them to enter it," * 

Here, then, we see that the resurrection, the 
angels, and the future life in heaven, are all so 
related that the one fact involves and implies 
the other. These great truths, dimly outlined, 
yet firmly believed by Old Testament saints, are 
here authoritatively announced by Him who is 
himself the Resurrection and the Life : " Who 
hath abolished death, and hath brought life and 
immortality to light, through the Gospel." 

* " Good and Evil Angels," pp. 29, 30. 



" Man's highest triumph 1 man's profoundest fall ! 
The death-bed of the just ! is yet undrawn 
By mortal hand : it merits a divine : 
Angels should paint it, angels ever there ; 
There on a post of honor and of joy." — Young. 

"Angels, where'er we go, attend 

Our steps, whate'er betide ; 
With watchful care their charge defend, 

And evil turn aside. 

" Our lives those holy angels keep 

From every hostile power ; 
And, unconcerned, we sweetly sleep, 

As Adam in his bower. 

" And when our spirits we resign, 

On outstretched wings they bear, 
And lodge us in the arms divine, 

And leave us ever there." — Charles Wesley. 

" Hark ! they whisper : angels say, 

* Sister spirit, come away ! ' 
What is this absorbs me quite — 
Steals my senses, shuts my sight, 
Drowns my spirit, draws my breath ? — 
Tell me, my soul, can this be death? 

" The world recedes — it disappears ; 
Heaven opens on my eyes ; my ears 

With sounds seraphic ring ! 
Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! 

* O Grave, where is thy victory? 

O Death, where is thy sting?'" 

— Alexander Pope. 



Angels and Dying Saints. 



251 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ANGELS AND DYING SAINTS. 
u AND it came to pass, that the beggar died, 



and was carried by the angels into 
Abraham's bosom/' Such was the closing 
scene of a life of beggary, disease, and sorrow 
— of the life of one, whose latest physicians 
were " the dogs, which came and licked his 
sores/' But the gospel narrative does not close 
with the termination of his earthly career ; it 
partly draws aside the veil, and reveals to us 
angelic spirits bearing him away, and placing 
him in Abraham's bosom — the Jewish phrase 
for the paradise of the blessed. There is no 
mention made of his burial. No one knows 
where his body rests. The rich man was prob- 
ably buried with all pomp and display — with 
costly show, retinues of mourners, loud lamen- 
tations. But, probably, in some corner of the 
potter's field the body of this poor man, un- 
attended and unwept by any number of earthly 
friends, was laid away to rest. And yet, poor 
as he had been, afflicted and unbefriended, he 




252 The Angels of God. 

had, doubtless, been a servant of God. He did 
not have these angelic honors simply because 
he had been poor, or afflicted. Many think 
that if they are poor in this world, and suffer 
many afflictions and trials here, therefore it 
will be well with them in the world to come. 
There is, however, no intimation of this in the 
word of God. The poverty of multitudes is 
often self-caused — the result of thriftlessness, 
sensuality, and sin ; and they will not only be 
poor in this world, but poverty-stricken in their 
souls through the ages of eternity. The vast 
multitude before the eternal throne went up 
to that glorious world through great tribula- 
tion ; but the tribulation did not save them ; 
they had "washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of t/ie Lamb." So, if God's 
people are poor, as he ofttimes permits them 
to be, they do not rely upon this as a passport 
to heaven; they rely only on the merits and 
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through 
these alone they are saved. As Lazarus was 
a servant of God, the Lord had given " his an- 
gels charge over him" while he lived; and 
then they bore him to heaven when he died. 
One of the Jewish paraphrasts has said : 



Angels and Dying Saints. 253 

" With the Shekinah come the ministering an- 
gels to receive the soul of a righteous man. 
Particularly it is said of Moses, at the time of 
his death, that the holy, blessed God descend- 
ed from the highest heaven, and the minister- 
ing angels with him, to take the soul of his serv- 
ant." Sometimes they say, that " not only 
their angels, but the companions of angels, at- 
tend at such a time." For instance, they say, 
u When a righteous man departs out of this 
world three companies of ministering angels 
meet him: One says, 'Come in peace;' and 
another says, ' Walking in his uprightness and 
the other says, ' He shall enter into peace/ " 
And yet again, " If a soul is worthy, how many 
holy troops, or companies, are ready to join it, 
and bring it into paradise ! but if it is not wor- 
thy, how many strange troops are ready to 
bring it into the way of hell ! These are the 
troops of the destroying angels." 

These beliefs of the Jewfeh people were sub- 
stantially confirmed by the words of our Sav- 
iour in what is known as " the parable of the 
rich man and Lazarus;" and, also, by the gen- 
eral teachings of the New Testament Script- 
ures. These leave no doubt whatever upon 



254 The Angels of God. 

our minds of the attendance of angelic minis- 
trants at the death-bed of every saint of God. 
There is, indeed, very strong presumptive evi- 
dence of this fact. Surely, if the angels are 
" sent forth to minister for them who shall be 
heirs of salvation," they would not, after min- 
istering to them all the days of their life, and 
through all its varying scenes, leave them in 
this extremity of their nature, when heart and 
flesh are failing them. These angelic minis- 
trants are not often visible to mortal eyes ; but 
they are none the less really present in that 
hour. The blessed Christ, who is with them 
in that hour, and the blessed Comforter, who 
supports and comforts them, are invisible ; but 
still their presence is consciously experienced 
and enjoyed. So the children of God in all 
the ages have not only been conscious of the 
presence of Jesus, but, also, of the presence of 
his holy angels. And not only so, in instances 
not a few T , dying saints have, when evidently 
in the full possession of their powers, seen the 
bright forms of angels hovering near them, 
around their bed, in their room, and ready to 
escort them to the realms of the blessed. 
" Spiritual, therefore, as are the souls of those 



Angels and Dying Saints. 255 

who are freed from the body, or clothed in a 
medium which cannot be traced by mortal 
sense, the holy angels attend the last moments 
of the servants of God, and when the brief 
struggle is over, bear them triumphantly to 
their rest above. Not that the spirit would 
not find its way home without this agency, for 
under any circumstance the sanctified spirit 
would instinctively ascend to God ; but by 
this arrangement the angels themselves are 
blessed. They rejoiced at the sinner's repent- 
ance ; they hailed with holy triumph his con- 
version ; they have waited upon and ministered 
to him through all his pilgrimage ; and it is 
with rapture and with shouts of triumph that 
they bear his glorified spirit to the paradise of 
God. It is a well-known psychological fact, 
that in many instances as the power of phys- 
ical perception becomes obtuse, intellectual 
and spiritual perceptions become exceedingly 
acute. As the bodily eye grows dim, the spir- 
itual eye grows clearer; as the bodily ear be- 
comes insensible to sound, the spiritual ear 
develops its power. With this fact before us, 
we may be permited to suggest, whether there 
be not more than imagination in the circum- 



256 The A ngels 0 f God. 

stances connected with the departure of many 
of the people of God. How many of the dy- 
ing saints, as they entered the waters of Jor- 
dan, have expressed their confident assurance 
that angelic spirits were present, and have 
called the attention of weeping friends to 
strains of melody audible only to the dying 
ear. * 

In how many ways they minister by the 
couch of the dying saint we know not : nor 
shall we ever know, until, mayhap, to some 
extent when we are dying, and more fully still 
when we listen to their recital of their minis- 
trations to us in the heavenly world. So true 
is this, that no Christian doubts that he will 
enjoy such ministries when he comes to the 
time of his departure from this world. The 
hymnology of all Churches, and of all creeds, 
is fragrant with this thought ; and especially, 
all the evangelical theology of Christendom 
dwells upon it with holy fervor, not only as a 
revealed fact, but as abundantly confirmed by 
the testimonies of multitudes of dying saints. 

This hope is a most inspiring one to the 
Christian. We shall not be alone when we 

* Rawson, "Holy Angels," pp. 103, 104. 



Angels and Dying Saints. 257 

die. We shall not pass through the valley of 
the shadow of death alone. No matter where, 
or when, or how we die, if we fall asleep in 
Jesus, these heavenly messengers will be near 
to convey us to the realms of light. Not only 
so ; it gives us unspeakable comfort when our 
loved ones depart from us. We are with them 
up to the last moment. We follow them not 
only to the brink of the river, but we still hold 
their hands in ours when the spray of the cold 
waters chills their frame. We behold the last 
gasp, we listen to the last faint breath ; and 
then — they are gone ! Amid blinding tears 
we look, or strive to look, through the dark- 
ness which now envelops us. We try to follow 
them. But, alas! our vision is too dim and 
dull to penetrate the veil which now separates 
us from them. All that we see are the lifeless 
forms, the marble-cold remains ; and these we 
must soon arrange to bury out of our sight. 
But right here comes in the comforting assur- 
ance, that while we could not accompany 
them — while we cannot see the bright world 
to which they have gone — the angels have car- 
ried them safely to its bright and everlasting 

abodes. 
17 



258 The Angels of God. 

It is related of the late Dr. Durbin, that, in 
one of his most eloquent sermons, he referred 
to the death of his son, " Willie," who depart- 
ed this life when only twenty-one years of age. 
He said: " Just before he died, we were con- 
versing together quietly, until something called 
me away for a moment from his bedside. 
When I returned, and looked upon him, he 
was gone. A great sense of loneliness and des- 
olation crept over me, as I mused and won- 
dered, How could he find his way home ? How 
could he pick out his path homeward among 
the worlds ? This querying perplexed me for 
awhile, until, eventually, a verse of Scripture 
came to my relief, and threw light upon this 
question." By this time the interest in the 
audience was wrought up to the highest pitch. 
Every one was anxious to know what was the 
verse of Scripture referred to. Then he quoted, 
in his own inimitable way, " And it came to 
pass that the beggar died, and was carried by 
the angels into Abraham's bosom." "Then," 
said he, with an emphasis which thrilled all 
hearts, "then I knew how Willie found his way 
home" 

This vision of angels around the dying bed 



Angels and Dying Saints. 259 

is often enjoyed by the dear children of our 
hearts and homes, who are early called from us 
to their heavenly homes. Motley tells us, in 
his " History of the Dutch Republic, " of a 
wonderful scene which occurred in Flanders at 
the burning of a father and son for heresy by 
the notorious Peter Titelmann, simply because 
they refused to attend mass, and practiced pri- 
vate worship at their own homes. " When at 
the stake the youth prayed, 1 O God ! eternal 
Father ! accept the sacrifice of our lives, in 
the name of thy beloved Son/ ; Thou liest, 
scoundrel,' fiercely interrupted a monk who 
was lighting the fagots; ' God is not your 
Father; ye are the devil's children.' As 
the flames rose above them, the boy cried 
out to his father, who was burning with 
him, 6 Look, my father, all heaven is opening, 
and I see ten thousand angels rejoicing over 
us. Let us be glad, for we are dying for the 
truth.' To this the infuriated and fiendish 
monk replied again, ' Thou liest ! Thou liest ! 
All hell is opening, and thou seest ten 
thousand devils thrusting you into eternal 
fire.' Eight days after this," the historian 
adds, " his mother and another brother were 



260 The Angels of God. 

burned. " * Who can doubt that this vision 
was granted to this dear Christian boy to 
strengthen him and his father for their suf- 
ferings, and cheer them with the hope of 
eternal life ? Who would not much rather 
have been in the place of that burning boy 
than to have the character and suffer the doom 
of the fiendish monk? Alas! these scenes of 
bloody persecution, under the power and at 
the instigation of the Romish Church, have not 
been infrequent in the history of the Church. 
Nor would they be rare now, if they had the 
power again in their hands. But God has 
never forsaken his people, even in the darkest 
hours of persecution; and inquisition walls, and 
gloomy dungeons, and blood-stained racks, 
and flaming stakes have resounded with shouts 
of triumph and praise at the presence of Jesus 
and his holy angels. The ministrations of 
angels to dying saints are just as real now as 
they were to Elijah, the Hebrew children, and 
Daniel. " O would to God," said an emi- 
nently pious lady, a few years since, while upon 
her death-bed, " ye saw what I see ! Behold, 
I see infinite millions of angels about me, with 

* " Dutch Republic," vol. i, p. 336. 



Angels and Dying Saints. 261 

fiery chariots to defend me ; those are ap- 
pointed of God to carry my soul into the king- 
dom of heaven. " 

Dr. Berg tells us of a little schoolmate of 
his who met an early death. One day, during 
his illness, as he sat propped up with pillows, 
panting for breath, there was a sudden flush 
upon his features. He raised his little hand 
and whispered, " O listen ! That sweet 
praise ! " Then, starting up, he followed with 
his hands the objects which were before his 
vision, saying, " Let me go — dress me — let me 
go with them : " and so departed from this 
world to join them in their heavenly abodes. 
Multitudes of similar instances might be fur- 
nished, but I will only give one more. A few 
years since, not far from the banks of the noble 
Hudson, a little boy was taken seriously ill. 
No hope of his recovery was entertained from 
the first attack of the disease. As he lay one 
day looking steadily upward, he said, as he 
pointed with his finger, " See the angels up 
there ! " His brother turning his eye to the 
place, and not being able to discern any thing 
unusual, the little boy again said, " Don't you 
see them ? Don't you see the angels ? " Then 



262 



The Angels of God. 



he called his parents to see them ; and, as they 
could not see what was apparent to him, they 
began to weep. The dying child then said, 
" Mother, don't weep for me; they have come 
for me, and I am going with the angels," and 
in a few moments his happy spirit ascended to 
God. 

Gerald Massey, one of England's renowned 
self-made poets, in his touching poem of " Babe 
Christabel," has said : 

" In this dim world of clouding cares, 
We rarely know, till 'wildered eyes 
See white wings lessening up the skies, 
The angels with us unawares. 

" Our beautiful bird of light hath fled : 

Awhile she sat with folded wings, 

Sang round us a few hoverings, 
Then straightway into glory sped : 

And white-winged angels nurture her, 
With heaven's white radiance robed and crowned. 

"Strange glory streams through life's wild rents, 
And through the open door of death, 
We see the heaven that beckoneth 
To the beloved, going hence." 

The instances above given are only speci- 
mens of a great multitude. We have given 
these because they seem to illustrate and 



Angels and Dying Saints. 203 

confirm the eternal truth of God's word, and 
the hopes of God's saints in all the ages, 
whether they have departed to heaven from 
the dungeon, the block, or the stake ; from 
the amphitheater or the rack ; or from quiet 
homes and downy beds. The angels have 
been always near, and their wings outspread 
to escort the saints of God to their heav- 
enly home, 

Dear reader, when you and I come upon our 
dying-bed, whenever or wherever that may be, 
may we see the heavens opening, and not only 
" see Jesus standing at the right hand of God/' 
as did the dying Stephen, but may we also be 
favored with seeing the bright forms of angelic 
spirits hovering around our dying couch, and 
waiting to convey our spirits home ! So our 
beloved bishop, Davis W. Clark, passed away. 
We are told that " one evening, just before his 
death — it was at the twilight hour — he sud- 
denly roused up, and, though he had not 
spoken more than a sentence for nearly two 
days, he said feebly, 1 Tireless company ! tire- 
less song ! ' Then, pausing a moment, he 
continued, ' The song of the angels is a glo- 
rious song. It thrills my ears even now.' 



264 The Angels of God, 

Pausing again, he spoke with renewed strength, 
' I am going to join the angels' song. Glorious 
God ! Blessed Saviour ! Bless the Lord, O 
my soul ! ' and then he sank into an uncon- 
scious state, from which he never awoke until 
the angels ushered him into the presence of 
his Saviour and God." Can there be any 
doubt that he had heard the angels' song, and 
had gazed upon the " tireless company" who 
sing it ? 

It is said of Mr. Hammond, that " on the 
day before his death he said, 1 What brightness 
is this I see ? ' and his attendants said, 1 It is 
the sunshine.' e Nay/ said he, 4 it is my Sav- 
iour's shine. Now farewell, world, welcome, 
heaven ; the day-star from on high hath visited 
my heart. I doubt not but you all see that 
light ; but I shall feel a light within me that 
none of vou all can know.' Then turning to a 
minister standing near he continued : ' God 
deals familiarly with men. I feel his mercy ; 
I see his majesty ; whether in the body, I can- 
not tell, God — he knoweth ; but I see things 
that are unutterable.' At last raising himself 
up on his bed, he ended his life by saying, * O 
thou fiery chariot, that earnest down to f 



Angels and Dying Saints. 265 

Elijah, carry me to my happy hold ; and all 
you blessed angels that attended the soul of 
Lazarus to bring it to heaven, bear me, 0 bear 
me into the bosom of my best Beloved. Amen, 
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly ! ' 
And so he fell asleep." 

But not only are they with the saint of God 
when he is dying, they also minister an en- 
trance unto him abundantly into the heavenly 
world. If there is joy in heaven when sinners 
repent ; if their victories over Satan give them 
joy ; if they minister to them through all the 
varying scenes of time ; and if they are with 
them in the dying hour — surely, when the 
struggle is over, the conflict passed, the vic- 
tory finally and fully won, and heaven gained, 
their exultations will know no bound ! 

Bunyan, the wondrous dreamer, seems to 
have had a bright vision of this welcome of 
the saint into heaven by the angel throng. 
When Christian and Hopeful had got over the 
river, he says : " Now upon the bank of the 
river, on the other side, they saw the two 
shining men again, who there waited for them. 
Wherefore, being come out of the river, they 
saluted them, saying, ' We are ministering 



266 The Angels of God. 

spirits, sent forth to minister for those that shall 
be heirs of salvation.' Thus they went along 
toward the gate. . . .Now while they were thus 
drawing toward the gate, behold, a company of 
the heavenly host came out to meet them ; to 
whom it was said by the other two shining 
ones, ' These are the men that have loved our 
Lord when they were in the world, and that 
have left all for his holy name ; and he hath 
sent us to fetch them, and we have brought 
them thus far on their desired journey, that 
they may go in and look their Redeemer in 
the face with joy.' Then the heavenly host 
gave a .great shout, saying, ' Blessed are they 
that are called to the marriage-supper of the 
Lamb ! ' Rev. xix, 9. There came out also 
at this time to meet them several of the 
King's trumpeters, clothed in white and 
shining raiment, who, with melodious voices 
and loud, made even the heavens to echo 
with their sound. These trumpeters sa- 
luted Christian and his fellow with ten thou- 
sand welcomes from the world, and this they 
did with shouting and sound of trumpet. 

" This done, they compassed them round on 
every side ; some went before, some behind, and 



Angels and Dying Saints. 267 

some on the right hand, and some on the left, 
(as it were to guard them through the upper 
regions,) continually sounding as they went, 
with melodious noise, in notes on high ; so that 
the very sight was to them that could behold 
it as if heaven itself was come down to meet 
them. Thus, therefore, they walked on to- 
gether ; and, as they walked, ever and anon 
these trumpeters, even with joyful sound, 
would, by mixing their music with looks and 
gestures, still signify to Christian and his 
brother how welcome they were into their 
company, and with what gladness they came 
to meet them. And now were these two men, 
as it were, in heaven, before they came at it, 
being swallowed up with the sight of angels, 
and with hearing their melodious notes. Here, 
also, they had the city itself in view; and 
they thought they heard all the bells therein 
to ring, to welcome them thereto. But, above 
all, the warm and joyful thoughts that they 
had about their own dwelling there with such 
company, and that for ever and ever ! " Then 
he saw them come to the gate, their welcome 
by patriarchs and prophets, their harps and 
crowns of gold ; and heard their songs mm- 



268 



The Angels of God. 



gling with those of the angels and redeemed. 
" After that they shut up the gates ; which, 
when I had seen, / wished myself among 
them." 

0, if we may only thus be welcomed to 
heaven when we leave this world, it will be 
nothing to die — aye, it will be bliss to die ! 
As our beloved Bishop Haven said when he 
was passing away from earth, " It is so de- 
lightful dying — it is so pleasant, so beautiful — 
the angels are here — God lifts me up in his 
arms. I cannot see the river of death — there 
is no river — it is all light — I am floating away 
from earth up into heaven — I am gliding away 
unto God." 

In a similar strain, the author of " Yester- 
day, To-day, and Forever," says, in describing 
the vision of his admission into heaven : 

"A company of angels, clothed in light, 

Thronging the path, or in the amber air 

Suspense. And in the twinkling of an eye 

We were among them, and they clustered round, 

And waved their wings, and struck their harps again 

For gladness ; every look was tenderness, 

And every word was musical with joy. 



" Welcome to heaven, dear brother, welcome home ! 

Welcome to thy inheritance of light ! 



Angels and Dying Saints. 269 



Welcome forever to thy Master's joy 1 
Thy work is done, thy pilgrimage is past ; 
Thy guardian angel's vigil is fulfilled ; 
Thy parents wait thee in the bowers of bliss ; 
Thy infant babes have woven wreaths for thee ; 
Thy brethren, who have entered into rest, 
Long for thy coming ; and the angel choirs 
Are ready with their symphonies of praise. 
Nor shall thy voice be mute ; a golden harp 
For thee is hanging on the trees of life ; 
And sweetly shall its chords forever ring, 
Responsive to thy touch of ecstasy, 
With hallelujahs to thy Lord and ours.'' 

— Yesterday, To-day, and Forever, pp. 38, 39. 



"Suddenly 
In heaven appeared a host of angels strong, 
With chariots and with steeds of burning fire, 
Cherub and seraph, thrones, dominions, powers, 
Bright in celestial armor, dazzling rode, 
And leading in the front, illustrious shone, 
Michael and Gabriel, servants long approved 
In high commission, girt that day with power 
Which naught created, man or devil, might 
Resist. Nor waited, gazing, long ; but quick 
Descending, silently and without song, 
As servants bent to do their Master's work, 
To middle air they raised the human race, 
Above the path long traveled by the sun ; 
And as a shepherd from the sheep divides 
The goats ; or husbandmen, with reaping bands, 
In harvest, separates the precious wheat, 
Selected from the tares, so did they part 
Mankind, the good and bad, to right and left, 
To meet no more." 



A ngels at the Resurrection and Judgment. 271 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ANGELS AT THE RESURRECTION AND THE 



HESE two great events are rapidly com 



A ing on. The resurrection of the dead is 
a great gospel fact, and so is the general judg- 
ment. It is not for us here to prove, or even 
illustrate, these facts ; but to show the pres- 
ence of angels in them, and the part which 
they will take in their scenes of grandeur and 
glory. And we are not left to any presump- 
tion, or mere conjecture, here. The teachings 
of the divine word, the utterances of the Son 
of God himself, present these things before us 
with a vividness and forcefulness which it is 
impossible to resist, and which no human lan- 
guage can possibly improve. 

The fact of the resurrection of the human 
body, and of the whole race, founded upon the 
astounding miracle of Christ's resurrection, is 
one of the most glorious contained in the word 
of God. It robs death of its terror and gloom, 
it lifts up the mantle of darkness from the 



JUDGMENT. 




272 The Angels of God, 

tomb, and pours over all its territories the glo- 
rious light of immortality and eternal life. For 
that fact we are solely indebted to the volume 
of divine revelation. It is not taught else- 
where. It is only hinted at in the volume of 
nature : but, when it is revealed in the word, 
it receives beautiful illustrations from its out- 
spread pages. " Life and immortality are only 
brought to light in the Gospel, and by him 
who hath abolished, or counterworked, death. " 
It is in the same Gospel that we learn of the 
participation of the angels in its stirring and 
glorious scenes. We do not mean, of course, 
that angels can or will raise the dead by their 
own power. No ! 

" An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave. 
Legions of angels can't confine me there." 

But they will be employed in various ways 
in connection with that event, and will be per- 
mitted to bear a part in all its scenes. 

And, first : The resurrection will be pro- 
claimed by " the voice of the archangel? When 
Paul would comfort and assure the hearts of 
his persecuted brethren in Thessalonica, he 
writes to them, " I would not have you to be 



Angels at the Resurrection and Judgment, 273 

ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are 
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others 
which have no hope. For if we believe that 
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 
For the Lord himself shall descend from 
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arcli- 
angel, and with the trump of God ; and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first." 

Our Saviour, foreannouncing this period of 
resurrection and judgment, says, "And then 
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in 
heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of 
man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory. And he shall send his 
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
they shall gather together his elect from the 
four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
other." The second coming of Christ to raise 
the dead and judge the world is in almost 
every instance associated with the presence 
and co-operation of the angels. So the apos- 
tle says to the Thessalonians in his second let- 
ter : " To you who are troubled rest with us, 

when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
18 



274 The Angels of God. 

heaven with his mighty angels.'" In the ex- 
planation which Christ gave of the parable of 
the wheat and tares, he says : " The field is 
the world : the harvest is the end of the 
world: the reapers are the angels" St. Paul, 
in that wonderful chapter in first Corinthians, 
where he speaks of the character and certainty 
of the resurrection of the dead, says, " We 
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and 
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
shall be changed." It was in connection with 
the judgment scene that Daniel had the won- 
derful vision of angels. He saw the thrones 
cast down, and the Ancient of days seated 
upon a throne, like the fiery flame, and his 
wheels as burning fire. It was then he saw 
thousand thousands ministering unto Him, and 
ten thousand times ten thousand standing be- 
fore Him. Then " the judgment was set, and 
the books were opened." 

Again, there will be a separation made by 
the angels between the righteous and the 
wicked. u The Son of man shall send forth 
his angels, and they shall gather out of his 



Angels at the Resurrection and Judgment. 275 

kingdom all things that offend, and them which 
do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
teeth." Matt, xiii, 41-43. In explaining and 
enforcing the parable of the drag-net, and the 
separation of the good and bad fish which were 
caught therein, Christ says, " So shall it be at 
the end of the world : the angels shall come 
forth, and sever the wicked from among the 
just. 

At that time, also, the confessors of Christ 
shall be acknowledged before the Father and 
all the holy angels. " Whosoever shall confess 
me before men, him shall the Son of man also 
confess before the angels of God." Here we 
see, in the language of Mr. Watson, that " to 
all such persons Christ promises a public ac- 
knowledgment before the angels of God, refer- 
ring, no doubt, to his second coming. This 
acknowledgment will, doubtless, be a solemn 
act in the presence of the assembled angels, 
that all orders of intelligent holy beings may 
know the grounds of the divine procedure at 
that great day, a circumstance that shall min- 
ister more than we can conceive to their in- 
struction, and, perhaps, future safety : since 



276 The Angels of God. 

the wonderful discoveries of good and evil 
which that day will make, and the rewards and 
punishments of infinite variety which will be 
assigned, will form such a manifestation of God, 
in his government of his creatures, as has never 
before taken place, and must be remembered 
with awe and joy throughout eternity. But 
previous to the final act of acknowledgment be- 
fore the throne, there will be a distinguishing 
recognition. The angels of God will be the 
instruments of gathering together the elect 
from the four winds of heaven ; they rise first, 
so that they are thus acknowledged to be the 
1 dead in Christ/ them that i sleep in Jesus/ 
before the angels, on that occasion, become 
their willing and joyful ministers." But there 
will be, also, a fearful counterpart to this trans- 
action ; for they-" who have denied him before 
men, them will he also deny before his Father 
and all the holy angels." How fearful will this 
be ! When those who have denied him, have 
set at naught his claims, have trampled upon 
his blood and counted it an unholy thing, have 
not accepted him, nor believed on him as the 
divine Messiah, have blasphemed his name and 
persecuted his followers, shall hear him say : 



Angels at the Resurrection and Judgment. 277 

" I know you not, whence ye are ;" or, " Depart 
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels/' 

This will be the grand closing scene of their 
connection with the race of mankind, so far 
as their probationary career is concerned. 
Through all the long roll of the centuries they 
have witnessed the deeds of men. They have 
been present amid all the busy, exciting scenes 
of this world's affairs. They have been the 
witnesses of the struggles-, the conflicts, the 
sorrows, the privations and persecutions, of the 
followers of Christ, the martyrs and confessors 
of his Church. Now they behold their triumph- 
ant vindication. Now they witness the con- 
summation of all God's wonderful dealings with 
his people. Not only so : they have witnessed 
the rejection, the denial, of Christ in the world 
which he redeemed with his blood. They 
have heard the blasphemous utterances made 
by skeptics and infidels, by the unbelieving and 
ungodly. And they now see the justice of God 
in their terrible doom. 

One thing more remains to be done before 
the final closing of this wonderful and awful 
drama. As the angels themselves were once 



278 The Angels of God. 

in a state of probation, and as they have been 
employed in connection with the race from the 
beginning of the creation, they are also to be 
judged on that day. " Know ye not," Paul 
wrote to the Corinthians, " that we shall judge 
angels?" 1 Cor. vi, 3. We do not know 
exactly how this judgment will be rendered. 
The process of this great event is not revealed 
to us. Nor does it appear whether this refers 
to the good angels alone, or to the bad or evil 
angels alone ; or to the good and bad together. 
" Chrysostom, Theodoret, CEcumenius, The- 
ophylact, and most commentators, interpret it 
of bad angels, or of bad and good together ; and 
Chrysostom, as before, understands that the 
bad angels will be condemned by comparison 
with us." — Alford. For fuller light upon this 
revealed fact we must wait until the great day. 

When the whole judgment-scene is over, and 
the saints and holy angels have been judged 
and rewarded, and the wicked and evil angels 
have been condemned and punished, then, 
doubtless, the blessed angels will escort the 
redeemed and glorified to their everlasting 
abodes of blessedness and joy. And then, also, 
they will guard the wicked and condemned 



Angels at the Resurrection and Judgment. 279 

angels and men to hell's prison-house, where 
they will be held bound in chains forever. 

The whole scene will then end. The angels 
will return to their everlasting abodes. The 
saints will be all saved, crowned, and glorified. 
The w r ork of redemption will be fully accom- 
plished. The universe will be purged of all 
elements of evil, which shall henceforth be 
confined to the abodes of the condemned. The 
Lord Jesus Christ will lay aside his judicial 
and mediatorial robes. For " then cometh the 
end, when he shall have delivered up the king- 
dom to God, even the Father ; when he shall 
have put down all rule, and all authority and 
power." 1 Cor. xv, 24. 

And then, through all eternity, songs of 
praises will ascend from the countless throngs 
of the redeemed and angelic hosts to God and 
the Lamb. May we be among that glorious 
company ! May we mingle in their songs of 
endless joy ! 



" Deaf would I be to earthly sounds, to greet 

With thought intent, and fixed on things above, 
The high angelic strains, the accent sweet, 

In which true peace accords with perfect love; 
Each living instrument, the breath that plays 
Upon its strings from chord to chord conveys, 

And to one end so perfectly they move, 
That nothing jars the eternal harmony: 
Love melts each voice, love lifts its accents high, 

Love beats the time, presides o'er every string. 
The angelic orchestra one signal sways ; 
The sound becomes more sweet, the more it strays 
Through varying changes, in harmonious maze; 

He who the song inspired, prompts all who / sing." 

— VlTTORIA COLONNA, 

Sixteenth Century 



The Employment of A?zgels in Heaven, 281 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE EMPLOYMENT OF ANGELS IN HEAVEN, 
t T 7E are not to suppose for a moment that 



* » the employments of the angels are lim- 
ited to the guardianship of God's saints, or their 
ministration to the heirs of salvation. This, 
it is true, is a question which most deeply in- 
terests and concerns us. But there are other 
worlds, to which, if they are inhabited, their 
ministrations and agencies doubtless extend ; 
and heaven itself, their everlasting abode, is 
the scene of their constant service, and is ever 
resonant with their songs of praise and joy. 
They are ever engaged in doing the will of 
God and in glorifying his name — praising him 
for his w T orks of creation, redemption, and 
providence, and adoring his wisdom, justice, 
holiness, truth, goodness, and power. Hence 
the royal psalmist says, " Bless the Lord, ye 
his angels, that excel in strength, that do his 
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of 
his word.'' 

Isaiah, in his vision already referred to, saw 




282 The Angels of God. 

the vast train of the Almighty filling the tem- 
ple, while above it stood the six-winged ser- 
aphim. He describes their worship and service 
as follows : " And one cried to another [re- 
sponsively] and said. Holy, holy, holy is the 
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is filled with his 
glory." In Ezekiel's visions we behold the 
ceaseless activities of these celestial beings, 
both on earth and in heaven, ever on the 
wing, ever moving in harmony with the divine 
will, and for the execution of the divine pur- 
poses. Daniel saw the countless thousands 
standing before the throne and ministering to 
Him who sat upon it. 

Similar to the vision of Ezekiel is that of 
John on the Isle of Patmos. He saw the four 
living creatures, each of them with six wings 
about him : " They were full of eyes within : 
and they rest not day and night, saying. Holy, 
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, 
and is, and is to come." And when they 
" give srlory and honor and thanks to Him 
that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and 
ever, the four and twenty elders fall down be- 
fore Him that sat on the throne, and worship 
Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast 



The Employment of Angels in Heaven. 2S3 

their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou 
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor 
and power : for thou hast created all things, 
and for thy pleasure they are and were created." 
Here, then, we see in the worship of the heav- 
enly host that they ascribe to God holiness, 
eternity, almightiness, and the creation of all 
things by his power and for his pleasure. And 
in view of his attributes and his works they 
declare that he is worthy to receive glory, 
honor, and power. 

In the fifth chapter of that wonderful book, 
after we have been permitted to listen to the 
song of the redeemed in their worship of God 
and the Lamb, in which they say, " Thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation ; and hast made us unto 
our God kings and priests : and we shall reign 
on the earth : " then we learn that the reve- 
lator "heard the voice also of many angels 
round about the throne." and the living creat- 
ures and the elders : " and the number of them 
was ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
thousands of thousands : saying with a loud 
voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 



284 The Angels of God, 

receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. ,, 
And to this wonderful song there was heard in 
response, from " every creature which is in 
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in 
them, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever." 

In the seventh chapter, after the one hun- 
dred and forty-four thousand had been sealed, 
John tells us that he " saw a great multitude, 
which no man could number," and heard their 
songs of joy and salvation. Then he saw all 
the angels standing round about the throne, 
and about the elders and the four living creat- 
ures, and falling before them, " saying, Amen : 
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks- 
giving, and honor, and power, and might, be 
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." The 
careful reader will not have failed to notice 
the gradation in these ascriptions of praise. 
In the fourth chapter, the angel songs are to 
the Lord God Almighty, the Eternal Being 
who is Creator of all things. In the fifth, the 
song is to the Lamb that was slain ; and equal 



The Employment of Angels in Heaven, 285 

honor and praise are ascribed to him ; to which 
the visible universe responds with echoing 
songs of " Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power." And in the seventh, the angels are 
represented as encircling the innumerable mul- 
titudes of the redeemed, and while they utter 
their songs of " Salvation to our God which 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb," 
they fall on their faces, and in the fullness of 
their joy they worship God, saying -'Amen" 
to their wonderful song. 

Mr. Henry, in his commentary on the sev- 
enth chapter, says, in his usually pertinent 
way : " The song of praise that was offered up 
to the Lamb on this occasion consists of three 
parts; one part sung by the Church, another 
by the Church and the angels, the third by 
every creature. The Church begins the dox- 
ology, as being more immediately concerned 
in it ; the doxology thus begun by the Church 
is carried on by the angels, (ver. 11,) who are 
said to be innumerable, and to be the attend- 
ants on the throne of God, and guardians to the 
Church. Although they did not need a Saviour 
themselves, yet they rejoice in the redemption 
and salvation of sinners ; and they agree with 



286 The Angels of God. 

the Church in acknowledging the infinite merits 
of the Lord Jesus as dying for sinners, that 
' He is worthy to receive power, and riches, 
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and 
glory, and blessing/ This doxology, thus be- 
gun by the Church, and carried on by the an- 
gels, is resounded and echoed by the whole 
creation, (ver. 13 ;) heaven and earth ring with 
the high praises of the Redeemer; the whole 
creation fares the better for Christ, by whom 
all things consist ; and all the creatures, had 
they sense and language, would adore that 
great Redeemer, who delivers them from the 
bondage under which it groans, through the 
corruption of men/' 

Throughout the whole book of Revelation 
the angels are every-where flitting before our 
eyes. Now falling down upon their faces, or 
covering them with their wings, and worship- 
ing before the throne of God and the Lamb ; 
then holding the four winds of the earth ; seal- 
ing the servants of God upon their foreheads ; 
blowing with their trumpets ; flying through 
the midst of heaven ; pouring out their vials of 
wrath upon the earth ; thrusting in their sickles 
and reaping the harvest of the earth ; shouting 



The Employment of A ngels in Heaven, 287 

over the overthrow of Babylon ; and, finally, 
binding the Old Serpent for a thousand years. 

But in all these representations we must 
observe how careful the revelator is to show the 
difference between the redeemed and blood- 
washed saints and the angelic hosts. Many 
persons have thought that the angels are mere- 
ly glorified saints, and that every saint on 
leaving this world becomes an angel. It is 
true that we have no means of knowing to 
what extent, or in what manner, if at all, de- 
parted saints may mingle among men and 
minister to them. There is no proof, indeed, 
that they do either. There is nothing in the 
word of God which would lead us to the posi- 
tive belief that they ever come back to this 
world, or mingle in its various scenes. The 
conjecture which is cherished by many that 
they do thus come back to us, that they are 
present with us, that they comfort us in our 
trials, cheer us in our sorrows, relieve us in our 
loneliness, and strengthen us in our weakness, 
is a pleasant one ; and, with certain limita- 
tions, harmless, if within the bounds in which 
a glorified spirit might reasonably be supposed 
to act. But when such a conjecture is made 



288 The A ngels of God. 

the vehicle for the wild dreams and vagaries 
of modern spiritualism, with its table-turning, 
its writing of bad grammar and worse sense, 
its gymnastics, its utterances contrary to the 
teachings of God's word and subversive of the 
same, it becomes a source of unbelief, decep- 
tion, immorality, and mischief, and the devil's 
agency for the blinding of the hearts and minds 
of men. The little hymns, taught formerly to 
our Sunday-school children, and sung so beau- 
tifully by millions, " I want to be an angel," 
and, "O then I'll be an angel," were in direct 
opposition to the clearest and plainest teach- 
ings of God's word. Many parents and friends, 
too, when they lose their children and friends 
say, " They are angels now." All this is a mis- 
taken view. Our children never become angels. 
The saints of God are always distinguished 
from the angels. It is nowhere said in the 
word of God that we shall become angels. 
But it is said, by the Lord of the angels, we 
shall be made like the angels, and equal to the 
angels ; but we still will be " children of God, 
being the children of the resurrection." Luke 
xx, 36. 

And in the clearest revelations which we 



The Employment of Angels in Heaven. 289 

have of the employments of the heavenly 
world — those which are given in the apocalyptic 
vision, and which we have already dwelt upon 
—there is an evident purpose to distinguish 
between the saints and angels. They differ in 
their relative position before the throne. The 
saints are " nearest the eternal throne" of God 
and the Lamb, while the angels stand round 
them and the throne. They differ in their 
songs of praise. The saints sing the new 
song, which tells of their personal redemption 
through the blood of the Lamb, and of their 
personal cleansing in that blood. The angels, 
while they say " Amen " to that song, can never 
join in singing it ; for they are not redeemed. 
They never needed redemption. They were 
never befouled by sin, and so never needed the 
cleansing blood of the Lamb. They never fell 
under the condemnation of Jehovah, and so 
were never brought to need pardon and salva- 
tion. They never knew what it is to stand on 
hell's burning brink, just ready to fall into its 
devouring flames, and to be rescued from the 
" everlasting burning." They never saw the 
wrath of God continually hanging over their 

heads. They never felt the sharp pangs of a 
19 



2go The Angels of God, 

guilty conscience, or stood trembling under the 
thunders of a violated law. They never knew 
what a fearful thing depravity is, with all its 
elements of evil festering and rankling in the 
soul. And so, they never knew of the joys of 
pardon and salvation. They never experienced 
the blessedness of deliverance from wrath, and 
security in Christ Jesus. They never felt the 
cleansing blood flowing through every avenue 
of the soul, and washing away all its crimson, 
stains. Consequently, they cannot sing the 
song of redemption. Well does the poet say, 

" Earth has a joy unknown to heaven, 
The newborn peace of sins forgiven ; 
Tears of such pure and deep delight, 
Ye angels, never dimmed your sight. 

" Ye saw, of old, on chaos rise 
The beauteous pillars of the skies ; 
Ye know where morn exulting springs, 
And evening folds her drooping wings. 

" Bright heralds of the eternal Will, 
Abroad his errands ye fulfill ; 
Or, throned in floods of beamy day, 
Symphonious in his presence play. 

" Loud is the song ; the heavenly plain 
Is shaken with the choral strain ; 
And dying echoes, floating far, 
Draw music from each chiming star. 



The Employment of Angels in Heaveti. 29 1 

" But I amid your choirs shall shine, 
And all your knowledge shall be mine : 
Ye on your harps must lean to hear 
A secj'et chord that mine will bear!' 

— A. L. HlLLHOUSE. 

Angels are of a different rank and order of 
beings; and the distinction between them and 
even redeemed and glorified beings is so clear- 
ly made, that our minds should ever be at rest 
on that question. Those who die in the Lord 
are not angels. They are redeemed, blood- 
washed spirits ; and they shall bear the image 
of their Lord forever. That is sufficient to in- 
dicate their happiness, their purity, their glory, 
and their joy. They are as the angels, like 
the angels, equal to the angels, with the angels 
in blissful companionship ; but, above ail this, 
being redeemed, they are nearest to the throne 
of God and the Lamb. And yet, while they 
may lean on their harps to listen to the song 
of the redeemed, the saints of God will doubt- 
less lean upon their harps to listen to their 
songs, sung by beings with nobler powers. 
With songs resounding " as the voice of many 
waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder- 
ings ; " and " sweet as from voices blest utter- 
ing joy." 



The Angels of God, 



1 High the angel choirs are raising 
Heart and voice in harmony ■ 

The Creator King still praising, 
Whom in beauty there they see. 

Sweetest strains from soft harps stealing ; 

Trumpet notes of triumph pealing ; 

Radiant wings and white stoles gleaming, 

Up the steps of glory streaming ; 

Where the heavenly bells are ringing : 

Holy, holy, holy ! crying, 

For all earthly care and sighing 
In that city cease to be ! 

1 Every voice is there harmonious, 
Praising God in hymns symphonious ; 
Love each heart with light unfolding, 
As they stand in peace beholding 

There the triune Deity ! 
Whom adore the seraphim 

Aye with love eternal burnin g ; 
Venerate the cherubim, 

To their fount of honor turning ; 
Whilst angelic thrones adoring, 

Gaze upon His majesty. 

• O, how beautiful that region ! 
And how fair that heavenly legion, 

Where thus men and angels blend ! 
Glorious will that city be, 
Full of sweet tranquility, 

Light and peace from end to end ! 
All the happy dwellers there, 

Shine in robes of purity, 

Keep the laws of charity, 

Bound in firmest unity ; — ■ 



The Employment of Angels in Heaven. 293 

Labor finds them not, nor care. 
Ignorance can ne'er perplex, 
Nothing tempt them, nothing vex ; 
Joy and health their fadeless blessing, 
Always all things good possessing ! " 

— Thomas a Kempis. 

We have thus considered the origin of these 
wonderful beings. We have traced the history 
of their manifestations from the beginning. 
We have learned their character, their minis- 
trations and employments. And here we must 
leave this, to us, most interesting theme. Per- 
haps we shall never know any thing more of 
the angels in " this dim world of clouding 
cares." But what we already know is sufficient 
for our faith and our hope, our comfort and 
satisfaction. Many curious and vain questions 
may arise in our minds which we would like to 
know about, but the curtain is dropped here, 
and the dark veil of sense hangs between us and 
them. We must wait in patience for future 
revelations and manifestations. If we serve 
the Lord and Master whom they serve ; if we 
do his will upon the earth as they do it in 
heaven, then it will not be long before we 
shall see them as they are, and be with them 
where they are. We can afford to wait that 



294 The A ngels of God. 

" little while." It will soon be past. The 
veil will be removed, the darkness will pass 
away forever, and we shall " see as we are 
seen, and know as we are known." How 
bright and blessed the revelation of their beau- 
tiful face and form will be ! How rapturously 
we shall listen to their songs of joy and praise, 
perfected during the worshipings of more than 
six thousand years ! How charmed we shall 
be in their society, and how, with frequent 
outbursts of songs of praises, we shall listen 
to their recitals of creation, redemption, and 
providence ! O blessed home where they 
dwell ! O blessed, and glorious, and innu- 
merable their company ! O the thought of 
spending eternity in such a home, with such 
society, amid such scenes and such songs, is 
enough to fill our souls, even here and now, 
with unutterable delight ! 

Dear reader, we have thus endeavored to 
communicate to you all we have been able to 
learn, from every source of information and il- 
lustration within our reach, about the angels 
of God. Some who will peruse these pages 
will be unknown to us. We have, probably, 



The Employment of Angels in Heaven. 295 

never met upon the earth, and we may never 
meet here. But should we gain the world — 
the home — where the angels dwell, we shall then 
compare what we have read, or written, with 
the facts as we shall there behold them. And 
while the writer will, no doubt, be humbled 
because his knowledge was so limited, and his 
conceptions so narrow, and his words so fee- 
ble, yet we may rejoice together that, while 
we sojourned upon the earth, we were per- 
mitted to know as much as we now do of 
those celestial beings, who are so infinitely 
above our conceptions in their numbers, their 
beauty, their power, their glory, and their bliss. 
That we may meet at last in the angel-home, 
is the sincere and earnest prayer of 

The Author. 



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